By Jill Timperon
Funding cuts have some citizens concerned about the future health and existence of trees in Centretown.
The city’s department of engineering and works trims the trees to avoid damage and disease, but limited funds have affected the amount of trimming the city can do.
When trees are not trimmed, they become overgrown with regrowth branches and leaves. In wetter parts of the year, these cluttered trees make perfect homes for a disease called anthracnose. They also become susceptible to more serious damage.
The snowstorm in October destroyed and damaged many trees, says Brian Smith, co-ordinator of parks and trees for the City of Ottawa. Nearly $200,000 has already been used to fix the damage. But because of extra expenses like these, there continues to be less money to provide frequent maintenance, says Smith. This has some Centretown residents upset.
“There doesn’t seem to be any money in the city’s budget to do anything that members of the committee think im-portant,” says Arthur Math-ewson, a member of the Urban Forest Citizen’s Committee. The committee informs the city about issues concerning trees.
He says one issue the committee is concerned about is road construction. As construction equipment digs up the roads, it destroys the root systems of nearby trees and makes it difficult for the trees to find water.
One thing the city and committee have agreed could solve the problem is by making a new tool called the vermeer saw a requirement for contractors who do work on roads in the city. The saw prunes the roots so that when the street is dug up, the roots are not torn from the tree.
Robin Higham, one of the committee’s co-chairs, says some of the trees in Centretown are more than a century old. He says he hopes the tool will help.
“It would certainly help us protect the mature trees, the glorious big maples particularly on the older streets in town.” says Higham.
But the problems don’t end at the roots. Hydro wires cut through the tops of trees and Higham says wires should move underground so tress can grow naturally.
But Henry Jaques, an engineer from Ottawa Hydro, says underground wiring will cost 13 times as much.
But Higham says he’s not discouraged.
“My feeling is that we have to reject ‘no, you can’t do it’ Other cities can do it,” says Higham. “If it’s too expensive it doesn’t mean you never start. There are many different ways to approach this but I’m not going to let it stay on the shelf.”