Storms damage 3,849 Mt. Prospect trees

All the numbers aren’t in yet, but Mount Prospect estimates that the two severe storms that passed through in June and July damaged 3,849 parkway trees, or about 1 in 6.

At least 322 parkway trees will need to be removed, the village added in a news release on Saturday. The repair and removal of parkway trees is likely to last several months.

Still, the village has some good news, too: the street-by-street brush pickup from the July 11 windstorm was completed Friday, July 15. Pickup from the June 21 tornado was finished July 5.

Public works crews will no longer collect brush or tree debris from parkways. Any remaining brush and logs must be properly bundled and placed out on the parkway for the yard waste collectors.

However, village crews and the village’s tree care contractors will continue to work on public trees, removing broken limbs and destroyed trees, as needed. These crews may temporarily generate brush and log piles as they work but they will clean up these piles soon afterward.

Citizens are being told to dispose of any remaining yard waste from their private property trees according to the Village’s solid waste disposal guidelines. Visit www.mountprospect.org or call Public Works with questions.

Due to economic restraints the village has suspended its Cost Share tree planting program for 2011. However, where space allows, citizens can pay the full cost and have a 2.5-inch tree planted this fall by the Village’s contractor.

Property owners who wish to receive no- obligation information about species and prices should contact Public Works no later than Aug. 5. Citizens may also plant a parkway tree on their own if all Village code requirements are followed and they obtain a free parkway planting permit in advance; call Public Works at (847) 870-5640 for a permit application.

Want wood chips?

Starting Monday, July 18, Mount Prospect residents are welcome to pick up free ground wood chips at Melas Park in the front parking lot.