[Green] Fwd: Armory trees

Tue Nov 24 16:07:05 CST 2020

Dawn,
I am so impressed by your knowledge and your knowledge and passion about
this important issue. The Mayor has met his match.
Maggie

On Mon, Nov 23, 2020 at 8:39 PM Dawn Hewitt via Green <green at fuusm.org>
wrote:

> Friends,
>
> Last night, I wrote a “pointed” letter to Mayor Schlichter regarding the
> cutting of trees behind the armory. (See far below.) I gotta give him
> credit for a thorough response!  But note, he is planning even more cutting
> in East Muskingum park.
>
> I recommend that you read my letter first (far below), and then his reply
> (below).
>
> I do plan to write back to him to thank him for his thorough reply, and
> ask him to explain why, if a tree fell on a house in Harmar recently, and
> if the city said it couldn’t come to my house to trim my “dangerous” tree
> until January, why they have time to muck with the trees behind the Armory
> that aren’t endangering power lines or buildings. But I’ll try to say it
> nicely.
>
> —dawn
>
> Sent from my iPad
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>
> *From:* Josh Schlicher <jschlicher at mariettaoh.net>
> *Date:* November 23, 2020 at 2:33:43 PM EST
> *To:* Dawn Hewitt <hewitt at earth-maker.com>
> *Subject:* *RE: Armory trees*
>
> Dear Ms. Hewitt,
>
> Thanks for contacting me about the Lock One Park project. We have been
> working on this project since June after we started to remove the 15+ years
> of neglect to this area. This area was allowed to overgrow into a unmanaged
> forest of poison ivy, vines, dangerous and undesirable trees. We are taking
> an unusable area and developing a small park that will be useable and
> desirable to the public. We are no longer going to allow our city to be
> ignored and left to overgrow due to either past bad practices or no
> practices. My office receives daily tree complaints and just last Saturday
> night we had a tree fall on a house in the Harmar area and do $10,000 in
> damage. Luckily no one was walking on the sidewalk or in their front yard
> when it fell.
>
> I appreciate your concerns but we are no longer going to ignore the fact
> that we have major tree issues to deal with. It would be irresponsible as
> city managers to do so.
>
> I will answer your questions-
>
>
> What happened to the trees behind the Armory?  We removed several that we
> identified as problems. We also thinned out areas while maintaining our old
> sycamores.
>
> Q-
> The barren landscape is shocking and sad. I hate to think of the erosion
> that could will result from winter rain and snow while that soil lies bare.
> Why were those trees cut? Rumor has it that AEP cut them because some were
> interfering with power lines. I don’t object to that, but many stumps
> remain far from the power lines. I saw a stack of logs there this
> afternoon, and some were sycamore—a native species that does well on stream
> banks. Its deep roots hold soil.
>
> A-
> AEP did remove several as well as our plan to open up the area. The
> sycamores were trimmed up and one small sycamore tree was removed due to it
> left to grow at a 45 degree angle over the river bank.
>
> Just a few months ago, some of Marietta residents who are concerned about
> riverbank protection met in the area of Goose Run and surveyed the plants
> there. We even pulled out garlic mustard and a few other exotic invasive
> species, but for the most part, the vegetation there was serving
> pollinators, songbirds, reptiles and amphibians as it held the soil. It was
> a lovely green space in the urban area. Today, it looked to me like the
> area had been bombed.
>
> Q-
> My understanding is that the Marietta Tree Commission did not approve this
> clearcutting, and in fact, was not consulted prior to the destruction. Is
> that true?
>
> A-
> No that is not true, First we did not clear cut we thinned and removed
> problem and unpleasant trees, second the tree commission chairman was
> notified prior to cutting any trees and every month during the meetings
> they are in discussion of the project. I have also had many meetings with
> the commission members. They are aware we are developing a plan with
> professional engineers. The tree commission is an advisory commission
> appointed by me and do great work for our city. They are the most active
> and serve our city with caring individuals and we support all they do.
> However, public safety and concern is our responsibility. I have drafted
> many emails to the commission to keep them up to date and stay in
> communication. Can we do better? Of course we can, but my office is a busy
> place with 37 different city projects under way, things slip through from
> time to time.
>
> S-
> I hope native trees and other native vegetation will be replanted in this
> area as soon as possible. Seeds from whatever was growing before the area
> was strafed will now be dormant in the soil, and are likely to emerge in
> the spring (unless they flow with erosion into the river). But when they
> emerge, I hope no one plans to use a herbicide on them before planting
> something “desirable.” Herbicide use so close to the river is a dangerous,
> bad idea. The pollinator garden planned on the opposite bank of the river
> is using “solarization” to kill exotic invasive plants, but there, we
> rescued dozens of native plants before we laid the plastic.
>
> A-
> The area has been looked at and silt socks put in place that comply with
> soil and water erosion guidelines and were overseen by that authority. We
> are not spraying herbicide on anything. We are removing the weeds and
> vegetation so the public can see your new pollinator garden across the
> river.
>
> Q-
> I would genuinely like to know what is planned for this high-profile
> location behind the Armory that is an improvement over the trees that were
> there. What is the plan? What is there is not only an eyesore, it’s a dirty
> rotten shame that those trees, that urban green space was wantonly
> destroyed.
>
> A-
> I will respectfully disagree that the high-profile location and prime real
> estate of the public was wantonly destroyed. The past wasteland that was
> left to develop and was abandoned by previous city administrations was the
> dirty rotten shame. My focus is on improvements to city assets not wantonly
> destroying them. The Armory was a $4 million investment, my administration
> with the development department rebuilt the Harbor this year with many more
> improvements planned next year. The last time this building saw any
> maintenance was 1993. We are developing the area with professional
> engineers, Washington County Soil and Water, Muskingum Watershed
> Conservatory, FEMA and Army Corps of Engineers ( river dredging project )
> that are well suited to guide us and provide the oversight to make the
> improvements. I already have secured funding for the new park area that
> will not come from taxpayers. I have had an overwhelming majority of
> support for this project. We are supporting the development of the railroad
> bridge pedestrian corridor and in order to do that we needed to remove
> several trees and AEP took responsibility for that portion to protect their
> infrastructure and transmission lines. It might be an eyesore currently for
> some but those that have vision and know the plan understand it is progress
> in the making. Some won't understand that or care but the overwhelming
> majority are supportive of this new park, Harbor, Armory and pedestrian
> crossing. We are also planning a restoration and improvement project in
> East Muskingum Park and that will also involve removing a few trees. We
> also have plans next year to do improvements on the Levee and more
> unappealing trees, weeds and vegetation will be removed.
>
> S-
> Please understand that the citizens of Marietta care deeply about the
> trees we own, and that includes trees on public property. Those were our
> trees, and they shouldn’t have been cut.
>
> We have about 8,000 trees we are responsible for in the city and we are
> going to maintain them and not let dangerous situations go on as in years
> past. They are public trees and the overwhelming majority of our citizens
> want action from me. My office receives daily calls and complaints about
> trees. This includes trimming, removing and maintaining all 8,000
> responsibly. I have even reassigned a member of our new Public Works
> Department as our "Community Response Specialist" to handle tree issues.
>
> Thanks again for contacting me and if I can be of further assistance
> please let me know.
>
>
>
> Josh Schlicher
> Mayor
> City of Marietta
> 301 Putnam Street
> Suite 1000
> Marietta, OH 45750
> 740-373-1387 Office
> 740-516-4901 City Cell
> 740-350-1337 Personal Cell
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Dawn Hewitt [mailto:hewitt at earth-maker.com]
> Sent: Sunday, November 22, 2020 10:42 PM
> To: Josh Schlicher <jschlicher at mariettaoh.net>
> Subject: Armory trees
>
> CAUTION: This email originated from outside your organization. Exercise
> caution when opening attachments or clicking links, especially from unknown
> senders.
>
> Dear Mayor Schlicher,
>
> What happened to the trees behind the Armory?  The barren landscape is
> shocking and sad. I hate to think of the erosion that could will result
> from winter rain and snow while that soil lies bare. Why were those trees
> cut? Rumor has it that AEP cut them because some were interfering with
> power lines. I don’t object to that, but many stumps remain far from the
> power lines. I saw a stack of logs there this afternoon, and some were
> sycamore—a native species that does well on stream banks. Its deep roots
> hold soil.
>
> Just a few months ago, some of Marietta residents who are concerned about
> riverbank protection met in the area of Goose Run and surveyed the plants
> there. We even pulled out garlic mustard and a few other exotic invasive
> species, but for the most part, the vegetation there was serving
> pollinators, songbirds, reptiles and amphibians as it held the soil. It was
> a lovely green space in the urban area. Today, it looked to me like the
> area had been bombed.
>
> My understanding is that the Marietta Tree Commission did not approve this
> clearcutting, and in fact, was not consulted prior to the destruction. Is
> that true?
>
> I hope native trees and other native vegetation will be replanted in this
> area as soon as possible. Seeds from whatever was growing before the area
> was strafed will now be dormant in the soil, and are likely to emerge in
> the spring (unless they flow with erosion into the river). But when they
> emerge, I hope no one plans to use a herbicide on them before planting
> something “desirable.” Herbicide use so close to the river is a dangerous,
> bad idea. The pollinator garden planned on the opposite bank of the river
> is using “solarization” to kill exotic invasive plants, but there, we
> rescued dozens of native plants before we laid the plastic.
>
> I would genuinely like to know what is planned for this high-profile
> location behind the Armory that is an improvement over the trees that were
> there. What is the plan? What is there is not only an eyesore, it’s a dirty
> rotten shame that those trees, that urban green space was wantonly
> destroyed.
>
> Please understand that the citizens of Marietta care deeply about the
> trees we own, and that includes trees on public property. Those were our
> trees, and they shouldn’t have been cut.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Dawn Hewitt
> 622 N. Seventh St.
> Marietta, OH 45750
>
> _______________________________________________
> Green mailing list
> Green at fuusm.org
> http://fuusm.org/mailman/listinfo/green_fuusm.org
>

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