Woodburn Independent Online

City says trees replaced, now pay up

Residents knew the costs would be passed on once the new trees were planted

• By: Rachel Cavanaugh  
• Published: 2/2/2010 10:59:09 AM

Photo By: Photo courtesy of the city of WoodburnHornbeam tree
The city of Woodburn is in the process of collecting money from property owners in the Ironwood subdivision for a project last year that replaced sweet gum trees with hornbeams, a species less damaging to sidewalks.

WOODBURN — The Woodburn City Council has authorized the city to collect money from property owners in the Ironwood subdivision for a tree replacement project.
 
The work, which was done last summer, involved digging up problem trees and replacing them with ones that won’t damage the sidewalks.
 
“(The trees) were damaging property, so we changed the species of the tree and then we also engineered it so the trees are less likely to damage infrastructure and other things as they mature,” said Public Works Director Dan Brown. “Basically, now it’s just getting the city reimbursed for the expenses the city put into this.”
 
The city funded the $85,000 project through a local improvement district (LID), with the idea that homeowners would pay their portion back once work was complete.
 
The city contributed about $22,000 to make up for the difference between the initial cost-estimate and the final bill.
 
Earlier this month, the council held a public hearing before passing the assessment ordinance. According to Brown, the overall response has been OK but there was one complaint that not all trees were replaced.
 
“There was an expectation on the homeowners’ part that everything would be replaced in kind and that wasn’t our intention at all,” said Brown. “The reason that we’re replacing these street trees was in the initial planning they were planted too close to driveway accesses or mailboxes or street lights or stop signs.
 
“So when we replaced these trees we laid them out more appropriately and spaced them out so they wouldn’t damage driveways, they wouldn’t damage mailboxes, they wouldn’t damage utilities and they wouldn’t block signage,” Brown said.
 
Brown said he received a letter and some calls with regard to that issue, but nobody spoke at the hearing.
 
The new trees, which are called hornbeams, replace the old sweet gum trees. Brown said the new species are less damaging to neighborhood infrastructure.
 
Additionally, the city changed its approach to spacing the trees.
 
“The old standard was basically to just try to put in as many trees as you possibly could fit in and it created lots of problems for the residents of Ironwood,” Brown said, noting the damage it did.
 
Part of the problem with the sweet gums was their root structure.
 
“They have very shallow roots that grow on the surface so they lift sidewalks and they damage stuff,” Brown said. “They don’t want to grow down. And they blow over very easy because their roots are very shallow.
 
“So there were a lot of trees that were blowing over every time we had a wind storm out there.”
 
The sweet gums are now no longer allowed as approved street trees, according to the latest Woodburn development ordinance update.
 
Brown said the hornbeams have more of a conical with the tendency to grow upwards instead.
 
The ordinance for the final assessment passed at the Jan. 11 council meeting.

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