\u201cExcuse me, we\u2019re having a meeting,\u201d Mayor Rachel Simbeck, warned when former Mancos Tree Board member David Blaine interrupted the appointment proceedings.<\/p>\n
Blaine nodded, citing there was a \u201cmajor emergency\u201d involving a large three-foot diameter cottonwood branch that had fallen just moments before because of gusty winds.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese aren\u2019t limbs; these are trunks,\u201d Blaine proclaimed.<\/p>\n
Days prior to last week\u2019s town trustee meeting, branches from the same cottonwood tree fell from 217 Main St. across the roadway from Blaine\u2019s daughter\u2019s home at 214 Main St. The tree damaged a vehicle and a fence.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is all pretty timely, considering we are trying to get our Tree Board back,\u201d said Town Administrator Andrea Phillips.<\/p>\n
Established in 1987, the Mancos Tree Board has been inactive since 2010.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe trees are \u2026 rotten and falling apart,\u201d Blaine told town trustees.<\/p>\n
When on the tree board, Blaine said an arborist in the 1990s identified approximately a dozen trees that needed to be taken down.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m willing to bet anyone here, right now, $50 bucks, that those two trees are on that list,\u201d Blaine wagered.<\/p>\n
Under town code, property owners are required to manage nuisance trees and assume all liability. Blaine suggested the town initiate a 50\/50 share program to encourage property owners to remove trees like the cottonwoods in question.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s in the interest of the town to take care of matters like that, so no one gets hurt,\u201d Blaine warned.<\/p>\n
Trustee Queenie Barz questioned how the town can force property owners to be liable for trees on public right-of-ways, considering the cottonwood trees in question were planted by former property owners more than 100 years ago.<\/p>\n
After some discussion, trustees instructed the town marshal to move forward with removing the trees.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince the cottonwood trees were determined to be an emergency, we went ahead and had them taken down,\u201d said Andrea Phillips. \u201cWe are assessing the homeowner for the cost.\u201d<\/p>\n
In regard to the new Tree Board appointees, three individuals wrote to officials expressing interest in serving. Town code requires tree board members to be Mancos residents, but trustees voted unanimously to make an exception in order to allow certified arborist Matthew Besecker to serve. Others appointed to the Tree Board last week include former board member Victoria Lewis and home inspection business owner Holly Rankin.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese look like very well-qualified people,\u201d said Mayor Simbeck.<\/p>\n