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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOLUMBINE EAST LONG TERM CARE - FDP - 11-05A - MEDIA -70-year-old diseased trees cut down V. Richard Haro/The Coloradoan A branch lies atop of Lemay Avenue after being cut from a cottonwood tree Wednesday. Neighbors seek a s,,cond o inion p 3 —a.3 - of 4 By CHRISTINE MCMANUS ChristineMcManus@coloradoan.com Residents driving down Lemay Avenue are upset that crews are cutting down about 10 SO -foot -tall cotton- wood trees that line the road. They've been complain- ing to on -site crews and to Columbine Health Systems. Columbine Health Sys- tems spokeswoman Yvonne Myers called the Fort Collins Coloradoan on Wednesday to say the trees are diseased and must be cut down. The work will proceed for the next four or five days, she said. But George Hoffmann, who lives across the street at Valley Oak Court, said the trees did not look dis- eased to him He has lived at his house for 14 years and said he wished an inde- pendent arborist would look at the trees. "I'm no expert, but if they're diseased, why were there leaves growing on them last summer?" Hoff- mann said. "It looks like they're taking down the aged trees to make room for the aged people." Columbine Health Sys- tems is building a new Health & Rehab Facility at the site where the cotton- woods are being cut down. Once the project is fin- ished, Columbine will plant new landscaping in May 2007, Myers said. The trees are about 70 years old, said Tim Buchanan, city forester with the Fort Collins Parks and Recreation Department. One of the trees on the property fell down last fall, into the property and away from the street, said Buchanan, who has worked for the city for 29 years and remembers when the road was not paved. "The trees may look healthy, but they're not. Columbine Health and the city wanted to save as many of the trees as possible on the site," Buchanan said. "When reports on the trees' health came back, it was a huge dis- appointment It wasnt good news at all. But it's factual." Reports show major limbs and bases of the trees are hollow, Buchanan said, and the trees were cut down for safety reasons. Hoff- mann said he wondered if trees along Lemay Avenue up to Harmony and Horse - tooth roads also would be cut down, but Buchanan said that wouldn't happen off -site from the Lemay Avenue Health & Rehab Facility. "The city is very proactive about making sure we plant enough trees and bushes," Myers said. "They will come back a year later and make sure the trees are alive, and if we have any dead ones, we'll have to replace them" Myers said Columbine will buy larger, older trees than usual to replace the cherished cottonwoods. Buchanan will help deter- mine what types of trees will be planted, she said. "Anyone who's seen our other campus can see that we like lots of landscaping, too," Myers said. "We have a hordculturalist on staff who pays close attention because our residents like trees, too."