TREE CUTTINGS TO BE STUDIED; CITY REVIEW OF POLICY PLANNED

The city of Cape Girardeau will review its tree-removal policy before next year's tree-cutting program begins.

City Manager Michael Miller said Friday that this year's program is complete: All 43 trees slated for removal have been cut down.

"I called over to find out whether we could stop and relook at things and found out we're all done for the year," Miller said.

He said city officials have expressed "some chagrin over cutting down the trees," but removing the trees is necessary to repair sidewalks.

Miller called it "a painful process."

But, he pointed out, the only trees that were removed were those that had damaged city sidewalks.

The problem is that the city's older trees, which provide neighborhoods with shade and character, also sprout roots that buckle sidewalks, curbs and gutters. If someone trips and is injured on one of those buckled sidewalks, the city could fast litigation, city officials say.

Most residents understand the risk, said City Councilman Tom Neumeyer.

He said: "Years ago we would not have been doing this. Now we're in a society that is litigation-driven, and if someone is injured the city is going to have to pay out settlements. We don't have that kind of spare cash. That's what's driving a lot of this."

All of the property owners whose trees were cut down were offered the chance to assume the liability of keeping the tree. No one took the city up on it.

The city is now going to look at how its tree-removal policy might be revised to require removal of as few trees as possible, said Miller.

Neumeyer said the city is looking at what other communities are doing and will contact the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce's beautification committee to see what ideas it might have.

"We're looking for practical answers from people with good ideas," Neumeyer said.

Miller agreed. "We're looking at ways to protect trees, particularly in the downtown area," he said. The city welcomes input that will balance saving the trees against limiting liability, he said.

John Layton, a member of the chamber's beautification committee and the city's Historic Preservation Commission, said the chamber committee is working to draft an ordinance to have Cape Girardeau designated a "Tree City USA" community. The designation would spell out tree planting, preservation and removal throughout the city, Layton said.

Once the draft is completed, it will be presented to the City Council for their consideration, he said.

The fate of the city's old trees is also a concern of the Historic Preservation Commission, Layton said. "But at the same time, I fully understand the city's position on the thing," he said.

Mark Lester, the city engineer, said 58 trees were originally designated for possible removal. City workers checked each tree according to a set of criteria and checklist before culling the list to the 43 trees removed.

"We looked at every one of those trees that came down; we didn't just arbitrarily guess," Lester said.

Among those criteria is whether a tree's roots endanger sanitary sewer, water or gas lines. On Monday, a worker hit a natural gas line while removing a tree stump in the 200 block of Independence.

Sometimes, removing tree roots to allow sidewalk repairs will weaken a tree enough to allow it to be toppled in a storm.

In some cities, sidewalks are rebuilt to curve around the trees rather than them being removed, but that won't work in Cape Girardeau's older neighborhoods, where streets are narrow and on-street parking is allowed, city officials say.

There are still lots of trees left in Cape Girardeau, city officials pointed out.

"They haven't denuded whole areas," Miller said. "These are individual trees that have been removed."

Neumeyer said the city has received seven awards in the last seven years for its trees, including the Governor's Town Treescape Awards and the Branch Out Awards from the Missouri Department of Conservation.