Elgin residents worry over local tree life

Residents from southwest Elgin demanded answers and accountability from city and ComEd officials Monday night after a swath of large trees were chopped down earlier this month.

Homeowners along Washburn Street were horrified to see 23 large elms and maple trees cut down to the stump.

"This wasn't a tree trimming event, it was a tree taking down event," said Patty Haire, who has lived on Washburn Street for seven years.

Officials from the city and ComEd said the work done by subcontractor Asplundh was along the route power line that was subject to frequent tree-related outages.

Instead of cutting the trees back into an odd-looking "V" shape, both agreed to cut them all down, officials said.

City forester Dan Larsen said trees were planted 60-plus years ago when standards were different.

"The majority of them were in really poor shape," Larsen said.

ComEd spokeswoman Sylvia Rogowski said the company's main priority is providing reliable service and burying lines underground would be very costly.

Charlene Sligting, president of the South West Area Neighbors group, or SWAN, said residents need more input into decisions and documented proof in the future that trees are diseased and need to come down.

"We want tangible information," she said. "Too often, the citizens aren't informed properly and there [are] smoke and screens."

Jason Platt, crew leader for the city's forestry division, said the city needs to plant more trees now to make up for the older ones.

"This is a mature urban forest that's declining, and it's declining rapidly," he said.

Although replacement trees have been planted along Washburn, other residents worried about the future as trees grow closer to power lines.

"I live one street over on Oak (Street). How long is it going to be before I lose my shade?" asked Steve Feutz. "I'm on the side with the power lines."