The Tree Board - Let's take one step at a time

Tonight the Tree board will be making a presentation to the city commissson.  Now I would wager to say that we all love trees and we love the Tree board. They are suggesting that certified arborists locate and identify all trees owned by the city of Lake Worth.  Not only that, but they want to use GPS or GIS to identify those locations. The trees involved have to have diameters of 4.5 feet and the board will assess their health and strength.

We had a great tree at the Cultural Plaza that never got representation or protection from this board. As you recall, grounds maintenance Supervisor, Chris Kibben and the city's horticulturist, David McGrew, who reports to Kibben, were suspended for cutting down the 75-80 year old Fiscus/Banyan tree that was at the Cultural Plaza. We were told that Kibben, the boss, got a 5 day suspension and McGrew got suspended for 3 days without pay. We were also told that the city manager had given orders not to cut down the tree.

So, we can spend money on arborists and GPS but no money in the world will protect our trees or replace one that never should have been cut down to the stump without proving that it could not be saved. This incident showed where staff can rebuff a city manager's directive. Who is in charge of this looney farm? The city commission should ask the Tree Board to find a replacement tree at our Cultural Plaza before any monies are expended for tree identification throughout the city...let's do one step at a time.