Comments on: Urban forest under siege

By: Dave Taylor

Dave Taylor — Fri, 18 Apr 2014 00:12:01 +0000

Unfortunately the city is broke due to future pension obligations. It would be nice to have some more people looking after the trees, but unfortunately we have a ticking time bomb of future expenses that have not adequately been accounted for. Just another service that has or will be a victim of current/future cuts due to WAY too generous pension/benefit programs put in place years ago.

I appreciate you bringing to light what has happened to the tree program, but I cannot support increasing spending until we get our financial house in order.

By: RK

RK — Thu, 17 Apr 2014 06:57:24 +0000

Jim, you are mistaken. The rates have not doubled.

By: Jim Leonard

Jim Leonard — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 23:37:31 +0000

RK, Water bills have increased by 100 percent. That is what people are reporting. This is how it works: previously people paid x amount for every 2 months, now they pay x amount every month.

By: RK

RK — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 20:33:08 +0000

Thank you, Don. Monthly deep watering! I certainly wasn’t aware of this. I like the screw driver test too. Makes it really simple.

By: donshor

donshor — Wed, 16 Apr 2014 16:30:10 +0000

Most people water their established trees far more frequently than necessary. I refer you to today’s excellent letter from Kathryn Dixon: Drought care for our trees.