Palatine receives grant to remove invasive trees

Palatine has received $25,000 in grant funding from the Illinois Department of Natural Resources through The Morton Arboretum's Chicago Region Trees Initiative to remove select invasive species.

The trees at the Rita L. Mullins Plaza, at the corner of Northwest Highway and North Hicks Road, are declining Callery pears. The public works department will remove half the trees this spring with the grant, which also will provide funding to purchase and install replacement trees. The remaining Callery pears will be removed and replaced in 2029.

The department’s forestry division began removing the trees this week. Stump grinding will occur in the next few weeks. Replacement trees will be planted by June.