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The Lansing City Council wants tree trimming dispute resolved

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LANSING, Mich. — The Lansing City Council has ordered the Public Works Department and the Board of Water and Light (BWL) to come up with a plan to resolved a tree trimming dispute.

Council members say some tree stumps left behind are damaging sidewalks.

Residents in Colonial Village are raising a concern and the Lansing City Council is listening.

Neighbors say they're losing property value after the Lansing BWL cut trees near their homes.

"Could we get a tree up? I just think it looks really barren when all the trees are gone and you just have a bunch of stumps," a resident said.

The tree trimming project was in response to a 2013 ice storm--to clear limbs away from power lines.

"Part of what we're uh have been asked by the colonial village neighborhood as an example was can't we get those stumps removed as part of the process," Carol Wood, Lansing City Council President, said.

Wood said some tree stumps have roots that continue to grow, buckling the side walks and causing sewage problems.

Council members are asking BWL to come up with a plan to remove stumps and replace trees that were cut by the utility.

"I think it depends on who took down the tree. Did the board take it down when they were doing the tree trimming in that neighborhood? Or did we take it down because the tree was diseased?" Wood said.

The city's Public Works Department is also expected to draft a similar plan for it's role in tree trimming.

"We either are coming up with a solution that we can tell them that it's a policy that we're working on or it's we're not going to do it. There isn't any money out there. The board isn't willing to take on that responsibility. But we've got to give an answer to the public," Wood said.

The Lansing City Council is expected to revisit the issue Aug. 5.

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