NORTH PROVIDENCE – Public Works Director Bernie Salvatore says that two trees town workers delivered and planted at a Nipmuc Trail condo Wednesday were replacements for much larger ones that the town previously took down.
Salvatore was present for the work, and multiple town vehicles were on site for the job.
Given stories from the recent past on the town using municipal workers to do work on private property, including a lawsuit against the mayor, Wednesday’s work prompted numerous tips and photos.
Salvatore said he was amused by the extra levels of interest, but observers will be disappointed to learn that there is no controversy.
Local officials previously came up with a budget for taking down trees, he said, so when the town takes a tree down at the sidewalk, taxpayers cover the cost.
About two years ago, they heard about trees overhanging the wires at the condos and decided to send someone to evaluate, said Salvatore, and when they got there, they found that the two trees were so large and so leaning out of the embankment that they threatened the electric wires and poles and even potentially the homes across the street.
Salvatore said he’s always preferred that the town simply cite property owners for trees posing a threat to public areas, but that hasn’t been the preferred method in North Providence.
With the town tree program in place, he said, he decided to simply take the trees down, marking them appropriately and calling in the town’s tree service to do the work.
“I haven’t cited anybody in years,” he said. “We treat everyone the same.”
The condo association didn’t want the trees taken down, he said, but the town didn’t really have a choice.
They don’t normally replace the trees, he said, but because the ones that were there were so large, about 30 inches in diameter, he knew it would cost thousands of dollars to work around utilities to get the extensive root systems out, so he talked with the condo owner and they came to an agreement to replant trees further into their property and the root systems would be left to rot into dirt. They were saying the previous trees were theirs, he said, so now there would be no question.
Wanting to hold the line and not incur extra expense, Salvatore said he “kicked the can” last season and waited for a local nursery to donate some of its leftover trees. As a result, the only cost Wednesday was for about an hour of labor.
