Sean C. Morgan
The City of Sweet Home will replace hazardous trees in two areas along Highway 20 beginning the week of Feb. 23.
The fir trees along the highway in front of First Baptist Church and Green Tree Trailer Park get too tall and must be cut back, Charlene Adams of the Sweet Home Community Development Department said. When they’re topped so hard, they look ugly. When they are not, they’re a hazard.
The city received a $9,500 Oregon Department of Forestry grant to cut them down and replace them with trees that will stay under about 25 feet tall. Assisting in the project are Pacific Power, which will remove the trees, and Oregon Department of Transportation, which has helped in planning the project.
The Sweet Home Tree Commission identified these trees for removal several years ago but did not have the funding available to do the project.
When the trees are cut down, the stumps will remain in place to prevent sliding on the embankments, Adams said. Good firewood from the trees will be taken to the Sweet Home Gleaners.
The project must be completed by April 1 under the grant deadline, but Adams expects it to be finished by mid-March.
Trees in front of First Baptist will include vine maple, flame ash and flowering crabapple. The city will plant Hinoki false cypress in front of the trailer park.
The areas won’t look too good at first, Adams said, but “this should be a lot more attractive once it gets going.”