Falling trees in Watertown raise safety questions

At least 15 trees fell in Watertown during Hurricane Sandy, raising questions among residents and officials about the towns tree removal policy.

A Siberian Elm on Jewett Street toppled two Verizon utility poles when it fell onto a house on Monday afternoon, and another Siberian Elm on Templeton Parkway caused a small fire when it fell on a house on Monday. Trees also fell on Longfellow Street and on Bailey Road, among other locations.

Templeton Parkway residents and Jewett Street residents had previously asked the town to remove those two trees, and now, in the wake of the storm, some residents are frustrated that the town didnt act before the storm.

I said the tree should come down, said Daniel Rosati, a Jewett Street resident who was home on Monday afternoon when the tree fell and destroyed the corner board of his house.

Tree Warden Chris Hayward said he was upset that the falling trees had destroyed property and caused distress for Watertown residents, but he stressed that both predicting the weather and removing trees are imprecise sciences, and its difficult to know when the town should listen to a residents request to remove a tree. He said the tree on Jewett Street was a perfectly healthy tree that was felled by extreme winds.

If I took down every single tree that every resident wanted me to take down because theyre afraid of it, we wouldnt have any trees in town, said Hayward, adding that residents often request that trees come down for other reasons, such as blocking satellite dishes or dropping branches onto residents lawns. Unfortunately, Ive got to try to find a happy medium here, to hold onto some of the bigger trees that weve got, and get rid of some of the trees that arent doing so well.

Hayward also said that Hurricane Sandy was such an unusual phenomenon that it would have been impossible to predict its effect on Watertown.

[Residents] have to understand that we had a hurricane. It wasnt just your typical hurricane. The weather forecasters are saying that this was a crazy weather phenomenon, said Hayward. This wasnt your typical everyday thunderstorm.

Hayward said the town can take one of two roads when faced with the question of whether to remove a tree. If a tree is sick with a malady such as decayed fungus or a rotting trunk, the town can simply remove it. But if residents request the removal of a tree thats not sick, the town must hold a public hearing under the Massachusetts Public Shade Tree Act. If anyone from the community appears at the meeting speaking in favor of preserving the tree, or sends an email in advance of the meeting asking that the town preserve the tree, Hayward must bring the matter to Town Manager Michael Driscoll, who must then decide, in conjunction with Hayward, whether the tree should be removed.

Town Councilor Angeline Kounelis, who represents the East End, including Templeton Parkway, said that residents of that neighborhood had asked the town to remove the Templeton Parkway tree. She and Hayward both said town officials would hold a neighborhood meeting with Templeton Parkway residents to discuss the tree incident.

See the original post here:
Falling trees in Watertown raise safety questions