Elmhurst Explains Why Tree Number Down

Elmhurst IL

23 November, 2021

7:07 AM

Description

ELMHURST, IL — The number of Elmhurst's parkway trees has dropped by 6 percent over the last decade, with the city explaining why that is the case. In 2009, the city conducted its last complete inventory of trees along parkways, which are the city's right-of-ways along streets. According to a city memo, the city had 22,000 parkway trees in 2009. Since then, the city has tracked the number of parkway trees removed and planted each year. In 2021, the city has 20,652 parkway trees. Explaining the drop, the city said it did not conduct a fall 2020 tree planting program or any tree planting in 2021. If the city had completed the 2021 tree planting as planned, the memo said, it would now have 21,328 parkway trees. In April, the City Council voted to ax this year's tree planting program, which officials said was a way to cut spending during the pandemic. At a council meeting Monday, Alderman Mark Mulliner, who was among those who voted for eliminating this year's program, asked for the city to explain that the number of trees today was "pretty much equal" to the number of trees a decade ago. "If we had done last year's schedule, we would have been almost exactly equal," Mulliner said. "We're trying to replace them as they're coming down." The city has planned to plant 636 trees at a cost of $244,000 this year. But at an April council meeting, then-Alderman Jim Kennedy labeled the program as "nice to have," arguing the city could do without it for a year. Alderman Bob Dunn proposed to halve the 2021 program, instead. The council voted 7-5 against Dunn's proposal. Dunn, Michael Bram, Dannee Polomsky, Jacob Hill and Marti Deuter favored Dunn's idea, while Kennedy, Noel Talluto, Mike Brennan, Mike Honquest, Scott Levin, Mark Mulliner and Jennifer Veremis opposed it. When Dunn's proposal failed, the council voted 11-1 to zero out the program, with Bram dissenting. It was unclear why Polomsky, Dunn, Hill and Deuter switched sides minutes later. They did not explain.