Geneva planning to take stock of parkway trees

How many trees line the parkways of Geneva? How healthy are they? Which ones need a trim? These questions will be answered when the city takes an inventory this spring for the first time in 18 years.

Geneva aldermen voted 6-2 at a committee meeting Monday to hire Graf Tree Care Inc., for up to $47,970 to do the work. The price is based on an estimated 14,000 trees.

Aldermen Robert Swanson and Becky Hruby voted against the contract.

"I think that it could be done much less expensive than $48,000. I see it as perhaps not the greatest idea to approve a nonessential expense in a year we are asking for additional funding," Swanson said, referring to the March 20 referendum about increasing the city's sales tax.

He suggested using college students or interns to take inventory.

The information about each tree will be loaded into the city's geographic information system, which can be accessed by property owners.

The 2000 survey showed parkways contained 9,600 trees. Since then the city has added the Fisher Farms and Sunset Prairie subdivisions.

The inventory will help the city plan how to get back on a seven-year rotation for trimming parkway trees. The attack of the emerald ash borer threw off that schedule when the city concentrated on removing trees killed by that pest. Public Works Director Rich Babica said tree industry standards call for trimming every five to seven years.

"When we have not been out to trim in 10 years, and we take (the tree canopy) up to eight or 10 feet, that is quite a change in appearance for residents, and quite a shock for the tree," Babica said.

It will also identify spots where trees could be planted, and figure out what species to plant so the city doesn't plant too much of certain species.

The city pays about $275 for 2½-inch caliper trees.