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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on March 31, 2014 at 3:26am

Yeah, that was really rotten luck.

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Permalink Reply by sgrady11 on April 2, 2014 at 1:52am

I have a tree that was killed by the borer directly in front of my house on the parkway. The city declared it officially dead in 2009. I've made repeated attempts to contact the 19th ward and 311 and every time I open an issue with them they close it with no comment. Every windy day brings down more and more branches. It's a very dangerous situation that they know of and are completely ignoring.

A few months ago a large section of the tree fell, took out the lightpole, and landed directly in the middle of the street. If my neighbor wouldn't have been at work it would have landed squarely on his car. The cities response was to come back, put the light pole back up, and repaint it. The workers laughed when I asked them what would happen with the rest of the tree. Eventually it'll probably fall on my house.

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Permalink Reply by Justin B Newman on April 2, 2014 at 2:47am

Red X indicates building is not sound; should not be entered by emergency responders. Chicagoist story here.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa Curcio on April 2, 2014 at 2:49am

Buildings that are on the city's demolition list.

h' 1.0 said:

(and on that note, does anyone know exactly what those red Xs on buildings and garages signifies?)
 

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Permalink Reply by sgrady11 on April 2, 2014 at 6:07am

They send someone out from the forestry department to examine the tree (quite obvious in this case, the bark is about half off the whole tree so you can see the "wormholes" throughout it). Then they put it on a list to be cut down. Which is evidently an extremely long list based on how long the particular tree I mentioned has still been there.

I could care less if it smashes my house or car but a lot of people pass under it every day.

h' 1.0 said:

Sorry to hear about your frustrations.

Just out of curiosity, what is the mechanism by which the city declares a tree dead? Do they put a tag of some sort on it?

(and on that note, does anyone know exactly what those red Xs on buildings and garages signifies?)

sgrady11 said:

I have a tree that was killed by the borer directly in front of my house on the parkway. The city declared it officially dead in 2009. I've made repeated attempts to contact the 19th ward and 311 and every time I open an issue with them they close it with no comment. Every windy day brings down more and more branches. It's a very dangerous situation that they know of and are completely ignoring.

A few months ago a large section of the tree fell, took out the lightpole, and landed directly in the middle of the street. If my neighbor wouldn't have been at work it would have landed squarely on his car. The cities response was to come back, put the light pole back up, and repaint it. The workers laughed when I asked them what would happen with the rest of the tree. Eventually it'll probably fall on my house.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 2, 2014 at 7:22am

Unfortunately, I'm very familiar with the issues caused by the city's huge backlog of forestry work.There are not enough trained forestry workers currently working for Streets & San (parkway trees) or the Park District to keep up with all the needed work created by disease, insect infestation and old age in Chicago's trees.

I went through Openlands' TreeKeepers program and have been active as a volunteer since then. One of the things they ask of us as volunteers is to be observers and report problems when we see them.  I and other TreeKeeper friends have reported many dead trees and dead branches large enough to cause serious injury or damage.

I know a few folks working in forestry for the city. They are stressed out and overwhelmed. A TreeKeeper friend saw a city crew on his street, removing large broken branches after a storm last summer. He asked them if the dead tree down the block (one he'd reported more than once) was on their list for removal. They told him point blank that their backlog was so huge that they were only doing emergency removals - trees and branches that had already fallen, or were broken and hanging.

Aging maple trees can appear to be healthy to the casual observer at a time when a large branch (or the trunk itself) is already so compromised by rot that the next high wind blowing from the right direction could bring it down.

Bottom line: there are lots of dead or compromised branches and trees out there. Given the city's budget shortage, I'd consider it unlikely that city crews will catch up on the backlog of needed work this summer or even this year, unless this settlement (and any other big cases of which we may be unaware) is enough motivation for the city to hire contractors to do the work. 

As trees start to leaf out this spring, pay attention to the ones that DON'T, especially if they're far enough gone that bark is falling off or already gone.  Be a squeaky wheel and report large dead branches and dead trees via 311, even if you reported the same tree last year. If it's a tree that gives you serious concern about potential for injury or damage, save the confirmation email (or get a report # if it's a verbal report). That provides documentation that the city was notified of the hazard.  Even for a tree that is completely dead (no leaves at all), it's not unusual for it to remain for 6-12+ months after it's been reported. The backlog is that big.  Not trying to be a scaremonger here. This is our current reality.

On days with high winds, pay careful attention to any cracking sounds overhead. If there's a tree you have doubts about, stay clear of it on days with high wind or heavy snow.

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Permalink Reply by Anne Alt on April 2, 2014 at 7:42am

There is no way they can afford to cut down all these large, threatening trees anytime soon.  And they certainly cannot afford to pay for all the damage to cars, fences, houses and people.  I personally would hate to see city streets denuded again, as they were after Dutch Elm Disease killed all the street trees in the 1950's.   What do you think the City should do?

They're limited in what they can do due to budget constraints.  Openlands is trying to help.  If locations in your neighborhood have lost trees, and you would like to see new plantings, contact Openlands (email link at the bottom of this page) to get information about the neighborhood tree plantings they are planning for this year.

TreeKeepers in various neighborhoods are trying to coordinate volunteer planting of new trees (bought with grant money) and they need to know where people want trees.  This is most appropriate coming from the property owner whose parkway needs trees.  Nominate your property if you've lost trees on your own property.  Share this info with your landlord if you rent, or with your condo association if you're in a condo.  Share it with your neighbors.  If you are able to get a tree and can make a donation to Openlands to help support the program, that would be ideal.

If you have a dead tree on your own property that you feel is a serious threat, contact your alderman to see if you can get bumped up on the removal list.  If you have no luck there but can afford to pay for a removal, you can hire a tree service to do it (which requires a city permit).  It sucks to pay for something the city should be doing, but this is an option. 

We paid a tree service for removal of a dying tree on our lot a few years ago - one that would never be healthy again, but was not dead, so we couldn't get it on the city's removal list.  We planted a new tree in its place, and now we have a young healthy tree there.  This is an option, but obviously it's not free.

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