City laments cypresses’ demise

Crescent City Council members became funeral planners of a sort Monday night after resigning themselves to the fact that the large stand of Monterey cypress trees in front of the courthouse will be cut down.

When city officials first learned of the California Administrative Office of the Courts’ plan to remove the trees because of poor health and falling branches, they wanted to fight the state and try to keep at least some of the cypress stand intact.

But after two arborists — one chosen by the state and one chosen by the city — both recommended complete removal of the tress, which are considered landmarks under city ordinances, bravado turned to capitulation, and council members sought ways to at least remember the cypresses as they are today.

“Once these trees come down,” Councilman Charles Slert said, “they’re down forever.”

Slert suggested the trees be used for more than “wood chips” and be incorporated into something artistic, such as a sculpture garden, that could help beautify Crescent City. Other council members said the trees should be documented with photos or made into plaques, both of which could be kept at the Del Norte County Historical Society’s museum.

Utility workers from Pacific Power are expected to start trimming branches from the cypress trees as soon as today, and an arborist hired by the state will likely begin full removal operations  Monday. It should take about 10 days to take out the trees, and road closures are not planned, though there will probably be parking restrictions on H Street in front of the courthouse.

“I personally have no fault with part of it going to the children and part of it going to the seniors,” Mayor Kelly Schellong said.

Replacing the trees is another matter. Because prime Monterey cypress growing conditions don’t exist in front of courthouse, the Administrative Office of the Courts would like to plant trees of a different species that would not encounter the same problems. These species could include ginko, maple or sycamore.

“We’re basically waiting right now for the city to decide what kind of trees they want,” Administrative Office of the Courts Communications Specialist Teresa Ruano said Tuesday. “Our hope is that we can get to that so we can have the work done by the middle of December.”

City officials still haven’t decided what kinds of trees they’d like the state to replace the cypresses with, though their hope is to get something more than saplings.

“We would like large specimen-size trees,” City Manager Rod Butler said. “We would like for them to be at least 24-inch box trees.”

There’s a possibility the state could plant more Monterey cypress trees at a different location in Crescent City. This would comply with the municipal code for landmark trees, and, in part, help mitigate the loss of the large stand that has been in front of the courthouse for at least 50 years.

Butler said the city will also revisit its tree policy as a result of this situation with the Monterey cypresses. Not only could there be some changes to the municipal code referring to landmark trees, but he said there could be changes in care regimens based on the fact that poor pruning and upkeep practices are in part blamed for the demise of the cypresses.

“We’re going to try to put an emphasis on getting some professional arborist experience in our city for how we manage the tree resources that we have,” Butler said. “I’m a big fan of cities having an intelligent, well though-out forest management plan ... And based on our experience we’ve seen the importance of that.”

 MORE COUNCIL MEETING NEWS

■ Smaller sewer rates: On a 4-0 vote with Coun­cilwoman Donna Westfall abstaining, the council elected to reduce the scheduled monthly sewer rates increases of $6.50 in both January and June of 2010 to a single hike of $3.25 in Jan­uary 2011, a $10 per month savings for customers.

■ No new digs: Though council members Charles Slert and Kathryn Murray wanted to spend about $45,000 on a feasibility study to build a new civic center that would be a centralized facility for city staff and police, the remainder of the council voted against spending the money despite already approving its expenditure in the recently revised budget.

■ Wind blocker: A vote on an ordinance that would set guidelines for small wind energy systems in city limits was delayed to allow City Attorney Bob Black to take a look at some of the legalities in the phrasing. There’s concern that a California Coastal Commission rule would sev­ere­ly restrict the construction of wind turbines if they could be seen from certain coastal areas.