EMPORIUM — Emporium’s Shade Tree Commission is working with the borough and contractors to remove a number of large trees that are unhealthy or are likely to become so in the near future.
Shade Tree Commission member Don Caton said the commission is working to remove larger trees that are partially or fully rotted, and have identified 42 trees that may need to be removed. While that sounds like a large number, the Shade Tree Commission is tasked with caring for approximately 600 trees within the borough, and property owners have additional trees on their own lands. The 42 trees marked for possible removal equate to only about 7 percent of Shade Tree Commission-managed trees.
Not all of those trees are likely to be taken down, Caton said. The trees were identified as possibly having issues, but they are being looked at individually to make determinations about their health.
A number of the trees look healthy from the outside, but are found to be rotted through once felled.
Large trees require a large area for their root systems. For trees such as the towering oaks and maples lining Emporium’s streets, the root system should be as large as the canopy. However, trees planted between a sidewalk and roadway are unable to grow strong roots, and are at risk of rotting due to a lack of nutrients, and blowing over due to being weakly anchored.
As trees are removed, they will be replanted, likely with different species more adapted for smaller root bases and more “urban” conditions. Members have also been surveying possible replacement species to weed out those that drop copious amounts of fruit and berries onto unsuspecting residents’ cars.
Emporium Borough Manager Don Reed said one option available is a newly-developed cone that can be placed into the ground beneath a sapling when it is planted. The cone forces the roots down deeper, where they can spread out more because they are beneath the many in-ground obstacles, such as the roadway, sidewalks and utility lines, found along borough streets.
Borough crew are tasked with removing logs and limbs after tree-cutting services put the trees on the ground, and with filling in the holes left when once stumps have been ground out. Reed said the contractor currently working with the borough will also remove about 20 stumps left behind from earlier tree-removal efforts.
The announcement that some trees would be removed came in early 2014, and the work was expected to be carried out over the course of three years. However, issues with the original contractor delayed work, and eventually, new crews had to be found to remove the trees. The Shade Tree Commission and borough officials determined that the work of putting the trees on the ground should be done by experienced professionals due to the many potential hazards crews would have to work around.
Shade Tree Commission members have been in contact with property owners to address any concerns involved with the work, and residents’ input is being considered in the decision-making process, according to Caton.
The commission has scheduled a meeting for early February to meet with contractors and determine the final course of action for trees identified as potential problems.
