Update: Dundee Tree Removal On Hold

Tree removal to make way for street renovations to the Dundee neighborhood are on hold.

Blademasters was hired to remove 22 trees from the neighborhood. Omaha Parks and Recreation Director Brook Bench told Channel 6 News Saturday the city has worked with the company on previous projects and on one of those the city issued Blademasters a warning to get their paperwork in order. That would include insurance and arborist licensing. When the city forester stopped by the project Friday to make sure everything was in order, something was wrong and the work was stopped.

Bench expects Blademasters to fix the paperwork problem and resume work in Dundee soon.

Some residents arent happy about removing the trees as part of the multi-million dollar renovation plan. They've been there awhile and some residents say the trees are more than branches and bark, they represent history of what once was a town in itself.

These are probably 60 years old, said Dwight Nysewander. Someone told me a lot of the old trees in Dundee were planted in 1908."

In 2013, a lot of trees will be removed, cleared out for bigger and better sidewalks, more parking and more space for families. Protestors took to the streets of Dundee Thursday night in an attempt to save the trees. We don't want the whole renovation plan to stop, that's not our goal, said Sara Nelson at Underwood Avenue and 50th Street where work will include a new streetscape and replacing a water main. Our goal is to try to save some of the trees and the green space to keep Dundee a pedestrian friendly place to live.

The renovation project should be good for business. Melissa Alvarez will miss the trees, but is happy with the plan. "It'll bring more parking to us and bring more business in and hopefully they'll plant a whole bunch of more trees so it can be nice and beautiful again because Dundee is gorgeous and in the meantime it'll look very sad.

Even with the planting of replacement trees, many who enjoy the current trees may never see Dundee again as it is now. A lot of the trees that will be planted, I'm not going to be able to see when they mature, have a nice canopy covering the area, thats the charm of Dundee that I love," said Nysewander.

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Update: Dundee Tree Removal On Hold