Replacement sidewalk program causes stir

Twelve trees around the community, one of which was dead, have been taken down as the City of Tecumseh moves forward with its sidewalk replacement program. At those locations, the property owners requested to have the trees taken down.The program was amended in 2013 by Tecumseh City Council after residents complained that trees in the right-of-way were causing them to repeatedly pay for sidewalk repairs. The amendment now allows for tree removal at a property owners request if sidewalk is being damaged. Trees that are healthy have to be taken down at the expense of the homeowner. Trees that are diseased or would not survive cutting of the roots are removed by the city. Before the change, the city would not allow residents to remove a tree in the right-of-way that was causing the sidewalk damage. In 2013, the program amendment stated that sidewalks with a height deviation of one inch would need to be replaced. Because a sidewalk repair and replacement program hasn’t happened in three to four years, according to Welch, the deviation was raised to two inches for the program this year. A handful of residents are upset that the corner of Adrian and Pottawatamie Street was hit particularly hard by the current program, where four trees were removed. Pat and Tom Housekeeper, who live one block north of the affected intersection on the corner of Chicago Blvd. and Adrian Street were not happy the city wasn’t doing more to preserve the trees in their neighborhood. “That the resident on his easement, where the trees exist, has the ability to say cut the tree down, even if the sidewalk is somewhat damaged and could be repaired, still has to pay for the repair. He still has the option, which is dumbfounding to me, to go ahead and cut a good tree down,” said Pat Housekeeper. Pat was on Tecumseh City Council when the resolution passed. The Housekeepers are worried about the fate of an oak tree in front of their house along Adrian Street. They are willing to allow the city to build a sidewalk around the tree onto their property to save it. “This tree is a one-hundred to one-hundred-fifty year old tree,” said Tom Housekeeper. “It’s a magnificent oak in perfect health on the corner sucking up carbon monoxide. It’s an important tree, I think, to the community.”The tree there has made the sidewalk slabs uneven. Tom said the city told him that the same procedure, which happened to the other trees on his block, is under consideration for his tree next year. The Housekeepers also contest that, if the sidewalk is arched over the roots, the problem would arise again in a few years. “We think the answer is more like five, 10, 20, 30, 35 years,” said Tom. Simon Parsons, who lives on the northeast corner of Adrian and Pottawatamie Streets has a walnut tree he is afraid of losing.“I would have no intention of cutting the tree down, but it seems the city could do that if they wanted to,” said Parson. “If there is any value to the uniqueness, the quintessential beauty to this 250-year-old town, if there is any value to that in people’s decisions making, what the city has done is an abomination,” said Tom.“We don’t like to take trees down,” said Welch. “Safety is the first concern,” adding that cutting the roots out is a possibility, so long as the tree doesn’t die or the chance of the tree toppling over increases. “We can’t take that chance,” the city manager said. “This is not an exact science when somebody determines the tree is going to die. It is an interpretation on our part. I can’t guarantee that they’re going to die or fall. I’m certainly not going to stand here and tell somebody we weren’t sure it was going to fall, but we were going to take a chance, and somebody gets hurt.”For those who want to build over the roots, the sidewalk still has to comply with city ordinance on grade and handicap accessibility, and the homeowner has to secure their own contractor to complete the work.Homeowners could also work with the city to build around the tree, but that is a legal matter where the owner would need to give some of their property to the city easement. Next year the city will operate the sidewalk replacement program at the one-inch deviation.“I think we’ve gotten the worst of the situation,” Welch said. “I don’t think there is going to be that many in the future where the tree is causing the problem so bad the tree is going to come down.”In the past, the city has had a tree replacement program that would replant trees that were taken down. This is something the city would look at offering next year. Welch said that it would be difficult to make a property owner take a tree they did not want, adding that replacing the tree would cause the same problem down the road and that there are many utilities in the right-of-way that make replacing trees difficult. “If somebody doesn’t want it, they won’t take care of it,” said Tim Bock, superintendent of the Tecumseh Department of Public Works.“Somebody calls and we just start knocking trees down — that’s not true,” Welch said. “Unfortunately, trees and sidewalks don’t necessarily mix. There has got to be a little give and take. I think we did the best job we could with it. It’s not perfect. It doesn’t make everyone happy. Again, the first priority is safety.”If the city removes a healthy tree, it is usually due to a sewer issue, said Bock. According to the Arbor Day Foundation, Tecumseh is a registered Tree City USA.“Rarely do we ever get somebody that says they want a tree down and they don’t have a reason for it,” said Welch. “But just because somebody doesn’t like a tree — no we wouldn’t do that. There would have to be a compelling reason why.”