In yesterday’s Managing Tree Issues with a City Insider talked about a creative solution to a tree problem in which Meadow Outdoor agreed to replace diseased trees in Ontario, Oregon.  The city got healthy, low maintenance trees.  Meadow preserved billboard views.  John Lehman, Meadow Outdoor’s Lease Manager discusses the Ontario project below.

The project in the City of Ontario, Oregon started with a good solid relationship built over the years between our company, Meadow Outdoor and the City of Ontario.  The trees that were mitigated became a partnership project that benefitted the City as well as our company.

I started out small.

I first approached the City planning department because there were two small sections of street trees that blocked both faces of a sign we had recently constructed.  There were additional trees that affected our sign but I wanted to start with a small group of trees at first. I explained that the trees targeted our sign but also, because of their height and close spacing, they blocked the view of the adjacent businesses.  If Meadow could be allowed to participate in removal and replacement of these trees, everyone could benefit.  I contacted the small group of adjacent business owners to get them involved.

I gathered as much supporting information as possible. .

I hired a certified arborist that created a study of the trees that showed that these trees were not indigenous to the area and were sick and dying.  This was a completely unbiased study which explained why the trees were in such poor condition.  This was very helpful.  I found out that because of the poor tree health, the city was burdened with a high cost of pruning every year to remove sick and dying limbs. They spent unnecessary amounts of money on fertilizer to try to keep the trees healthy.  In addition, the city sustained high costs associated with the planting strips under the trees.  The ground cover collected garbage which had to be cleared constantly.  The City wanted to remedy this by replacing the ground cover with stamped concrete and metal tree grates or flush planters.  The City had thought about these ideas but did not have the funds to spend.

A proposal was created to benefit all parties. 

Meadow offered to remove the old trees at no expense to the City.  Meadow would replace two (2) of the old trees with one (1) of the new younger local tree species, which opened up more space between them.  Meadow also cost shared with the City on the tree grates, the stamped concrete and the removal of the ground cover vegetation.  In exchange for the work done by Meadow, the City would allow Meadow to keep the new trees trimmed at a specified level that would not block our sign.  I created a long term agreement that spelled out what each party was responsible for and that allowed annual tree trimming over the term of the agreement.  This agreement was worked out with the planning department and then was presented to the City Council during a number of monthly meetings for approval. 

I explained to City Council the benefits to the city and the business community. 

The benefits were pretty simple.  Removal and replacement of the trees would allow more open space between trees for better visibility of the local businesses.  The new younger trees would be lower and could be shaped and maintained  in a healthy way to allow better visibility.  The old trees would be removed at no cost to the City and new local, healthy tree species would be planted at no expense to the City.  The City would no longer incur the high cost of trimming and maintaining the trees in these two sections; Meadow would cover these costs.   I invited the adjacent businesses to comment to the City Council as to how this project would benefit them, as well.

This pilot project is now used throughout the city. 

After months of City Council meetings, the agreement was approved!  After completion of this project, other sections of trees have been mitigated using the same tree replacement template and the same basic long term tree trimming and mitigation agreement.  Meadow and the City have completed 3 or 4 additional projects that have benefitted the City, the adjacent business owners and our company.  All parties are happy!

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