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Downtown trees ready for trimming

By Nate Karlin - | Jun 29, 2005

Sandy Lenahan appreciates the downtown trees, but would like the city to take better care of them.

“They look pretty, but they just need to be trimmed,” she said. “Some trees, you just can’t walk down the street without ducking.”

And Lenahan is not alone.

City officials agree the trees are in bad shape, but first all the Christmas lights must come down.

Velda Roberts, tree board chairman and city council member, received several telephone calls before Tonganoxie Days 2005 from people concerned about the attractiveness of the trees that line downtown.

“Once we have the lights out of the trees, we will trim them, and some trees by that time will be sprayed,” Roberts said. “There are some trees that have some problems, and there are some that need to be replaced.”

Council members have asked merchants to remove the lights by July 4.

Overgrown tree branches could make it difficult for merchants to reach some lights, so assistance from city hall will be available, Roberts said.

She said the city hoped to have the trees trimmed and sprayed before the Leavenworth County Fair begins during the second week in August.

If a tree needs to be removed, it will be replaced with a tree more suitable for growth along Fourth Street.

“There have been trees planted in the past that aren’t suitable for the downtown area,” Roberts said.

Some trees that aren’t intended to mature and grow properly inside a cement block.

Roberts said she hoped, one day, to have all the trees replaced with the same type of tree to give the downtown area a more uniformed look.

But a tree only will be replaced when its time has come.

“It would be an extensive process to just take them all out and replace them,” she said.

Roberts also would like the city to manage the Christmas lights’ setup. This way the city could take better care of the trees and would also add uniformity to the downtown during the holidays, she said.