Moses Lake may replace downtown locust trees

MOSES LAKE - Moses Lake is moving forward with an estimated $160,000 plan to replace 30 trees in the city.

Councilmembers Dave Curnel and Karen Liebrecht questioned whether the city should keep replacing the trees since they damage the nearby sidewalk and road. Councilmember Dick Deane responded, saying not replacing the trees would leave the downtown area a desert wasteland.

A majority of the council approved asking for bids for the project during a recent meeting. The project is estimated to cost $160,000 to remove the locust trees in the downtown area and replace them with European Hornbeam trees.

The project calls for replacing the paving stones around the trees and the type of trenches they sit in, according Municipal Services Director Gary Harer. The city is seeking the price to remove five more trees during the project. The city estimates the additional work will cost $30,000.

"We had this project a few years ago, where we replaced about the same amount of trees, and last year we had this particular project ready to go and because of budget restraints we pulled that and didn't complete that," he said. "We do have it in the 2013 budget, so we're requesting to call for bids."

The city has about 150 to 200 trees in the sidewalks, and still has a lot to replace, Harer said; adding the city is replacing most of them.

Councilmembers David Curnel and Karen Liebrecht questioned the project and its costs.

"I guess I just have a problem with $7,000 per tree. Can you give us an outline or some reason it costs $7,000 per tree?" he asked.

Harer explained the city is removing the pavers and the 4-foot culverts the trees are sitting in. When the construction crews remove the items, they disturb the irrigation system and electrical system beneath the sidewalk.

"Then there's some curb work and then some of those trees have actually raised the pavers up in a pretty large radius," he said. "You have to take those pavers out and level them all up. There's just a lot of handwork there."

Harer continued, saying it's about the same price the city received two years ago when it completed a similar project.

"Has the city staff ever considered the fact that maybe we shouldn't keep doing this tree replacement," Curnel asked.

Harer said the reason for the replacement is because the trees have created hazards in the curbs and sidewalk.

"You can see downtown, we have barricades around some of the tree wells because they lifted and our definition of a hazardous sidewalk is a 1-inch vertical lift, and so we have some of those," he said.

Curnel understood why the trees were being removed and sidewalks were being fixed, but questioned why the trees should be replaced.

"I think we get more complaints about the trees than we do people who say, 'We really like having the trees in the downtown area," he said. "What you're saying is we're going to do this and by the time we finish all of these 150 or so trees that we got, we're going to start all over again."

Harer said it's up to the council whether they want to replace the trees. The project would cost less if the trees weren't replaced.

"These hornbeams are a little slower growing and don't have an invasive root system like those locust trees, but just reading with other cities it's about a 20-year cycle where you're replacing those trees."

Liebrecht agreed with Curnel, saying replacing the trees cost more than it was worth, and it seemed like the city was simply following previous council's decisions without questioning them.

"I'm really concerned about this kind of output ongoing perpetually (and) indefinitely," she said. "I would like to see this project postponed at least until we discuss this at retreat, and perhaps come up with a more viable economical way to keep our downtown beautiful."

Councilmember Dick Deane supported replacing the trees, saying he was involved with the original push for the project. He pointed out the concrete cribs for the trees will help to prevent the type of damage the present trees are doing.

"We've evolved on that a lot," Harer said. "Our first projects we put a concrete culvert in. That was the best design that was out there, and they didn't get sealed up very good, so those roots go where the water is and that is up on the surface. They go underneath the pavers."

Now the city tries to seal any opening between the tree's root system and soil under the sidewalk and street, Harer said.

Deane compared the system to pulling a plant out of a pot, and Harer agreed.

"So we're facing an expense now that we were not aware of at the time when we did pick up this project," Deane said.

"Moses Lake could end up being a windswept desert oasis flatter than the horizon, and we're trying to maintain our beautification in our community, and I think that this is an important factor of the development of a thriving growing community."

Deane wasn't in favor of postponing it, saying they need to realize replacing the trees is necessary to maintain the community. He compared it to maintaining his house by replacing windows and fixing the stairs.

"It's time to maintain our community. We have to keep doing this," he said. "So I'm strongly in support of a request to call for bids and go with it, and make this our home, not make this a windswept desert oasis flat dust-barren community. I want it to be our home."

Councilmember Jon Lane agreed with much of what Deane said, adding he wanted to hear from other community members and businesses about the trees.

"I certainly think it's time to replace them," he said. "I think it's a good topic for discussion at retreat."

Deane, Lane and Councilmember Jason Avila and Mayor Bill Ecret voted for requesting bids. Curnel and Liebrecht opposed the motion. Councilmember Brent Reese was absent.