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Montrose council approves tree removal

Montrose councillors approved a higher-than-expected expense for the removal of hazardous trees throughout the village.

At Monday's regular council meeting, Montrose councillors approved a higher-than-expected expense for the removal of hazardous trees throughout the village.

Under the Tree Inspection and Maintenance Program, councillors passed a motion to spend $8,198 on arboriculture services from Castlegar's Kodiak Tree Service, to ensure that high priority trees were taken care of.

Chief Administrative Officer Bryan Teasdale, says over the past year, the village has had quite a few requests from residents to take a look at certain trees that could be on their last legs, or may pose a danger to residents and structures.

“We want to get to the high hazard trees as fast as we can,” he said of the work which began on Tuesday, and should take a week to complete.

The higher number of dangerous trees meant a few extra hundred dollars had to be spent on the service, but Teasdale says the money is coming from the general maintenance fund in the village's parks budget.

With the Tree Inspection and Maintenance Program, the village has a list of trees needing maintenance,  and all of them are rated according to their hazard level. Some trees may move up in priority from one year to the next, and this year, the village has categorized 13 trees as needing immediate attention.

“We have an inventory of all the hazardous trees in the village brought to our attention and we prioritize those accordingly,” said Teasdale.

“We want to make sure it is all done properly and safely.”

With the rising number of old and dangerous trees around Montrose, Teasdale says there has already been some discussion on growing the Tree Inspection and Maintenance Program budget next year to accommodate the village's future needs.

This year’s arboriculture spending also includes trimming trees and plants around the village to make sure the growth doesn’t have a negative impact on village activities or resident experience.

The next Montrose regular council meeting is on July 7.