City didn't follow own tree policy in Broadway widening project

The city of Cape Girardeau didn't follow its own tree board policy in the removal of two trees along Henderson Avenue as part of the Broadway widening project, city officials said Friday.

Typically, the city engineering department typically notifies the tree board prior to removing trees on city right of way to review the situation and determine if the trees should be saved.

But the board wasn't contacted in this case, said Dan Muser, city parks and recreation director and a member of the tree board.

He blamed it on miscommunication because the city isn't directly managing the Broadway widening project. The design work was done by a private engineering project and Southeast Missouri State University is managing the project, which includes some improvements on campus bordering the north side of the Broadway and Henderson Avenue intersection.

The two trees were removed along the west side of Henderson Avenue south of Broadway where some parking and sidewalk improvements are being made.

The removal of the two trees occurred last week in front of a brick rental house at 229 N. Henderson Ave. owned by Eric Gooden of Cape Girardeau.

Gooden said neither city nor university staff informed him that the pin oak and ash trees he planted about 25 years ago would be removed.

The trees were on city right of way near the curb. The city had the legal right to remove the trees, but Gooden said they should have notified him in advance.

"It's just the right thing to do to keep people informed," he said.

Tom Hadler, project manager for Southeast's facilities management department, said the university isn't to blame. "The university is not in the business of designing city streets or how it affects adjacent property owners," he said.

City planning officials acknowledged that in this case the city staff was facing a tight time frame to get the project started. Southeast officials want the campus improvements and related Broadway widening work completed before the start of the fall semester.

"Normally we review the plans, but in this instance it was kind of rushed," said Martha Brown with the city's planning services department.

Brown said Gooden contacted her earlier this year to voice concern about the possibility the project would eliminate the two on-street parking spaces in front of the rental home.

"We never talked about the trees," Brown said.

Gooden said he thought he would keep his trees and on-street parking spaces.

Now the trees are gone -- leaving behind mountains of sawdust -- and he isn't sure about the parking spaces.

Engineer Chris Koehler, who worked on the plans, said it's up to city staff to decide if the parking spots will remain. The city has the authority to modify any of the design plans, he said.

As for the trees, Koehler said the pin oak had to be removed because plans call for putting in a wheelchair ramp and a crosswalk at that location.

The project includes parking lot improvements by Pagliai's Pizza and the addition of several head-end parking spaces on the east side of Henderson Avenue south of Broadway. The sidewalk ends on the east side of the street, necessitating continuing the sidewalk on the west side of the street up to Broadway, Koehler said.

A construction official with the contractor, Kelley Equipment Co. of Cape Girardeau, said crews removed the trees as planned.

But Koehler said Friday that the plans didn't include taking out the ash.

But now that the ash is gone, Koehler said he plans to look at widening a driveway that provides rear access to Willie's Bakery on Broadway.

Cape Girardeau public works director and acting engineer Tim Gramling said he began supervising the engineering office near the end of the Broadway planning after then city engineer Mark Lester resigned in February.

Gramling said he saw the plans only twice before the university took bids on the project. The engineering office didn't follow the design work as closely as if it had been an in-house project, he said.

Gramling said the city engineer's office didn't receive the final design plans until after the contractor had started construction on the project.

"This is a not a typical project," he said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 123