There used to be shade trees here, on Second Avenue outside the state office building.
A year and a half ago, the City of Albany took out nine trees on Second Avenue behind the Oregon Department of Human Services building, just east of Lyon Street, and planned to replace them.
What happened to the replacements, I wondered the other day.
In February 2021, notices on the trunks announced the trees’ forthcoming removal.
The nine trees at issue were pin oaks, I was told when I did a story about their impending removal in February 2021.
They were probably 40 or 50 years old and had been small when the building still housed the Albany Sears. Now they had gotten big enough to cause trouble for the building’s roof, the city said at the time.
So, what happened to the plans to replace them with trees of a kind that would not cause trouble?
The plans evidently changed, the passerby concludes. The tree wells that accommodated the pin oaks now are covered by concrete slabs, part of the sidewalk.
I asked Rick Barnett about it. He is the city forester and the parks and facilities maintenance manager in the Albany Department of Parks and Recreation.
“We were not able to plant in the ground there as it is loaded with utilities,” he promptly responded by email. “We purchased some very large pots that will be placed there with appropriate trees when we get into planting season. Hopefully we will have the pots in place in the next couple of months.”
Looking at the “no parking” signs near the corner made me wonder about something else, unrelated to the trees.
The signs were put there several years ago at the request of the parole and probation department. Parole officers needed the spaces to load or unload “passengers,” in this case hapless parolees who had been snapped up and were in custody pending further processing.
The parole office, though, moved to the former police station (now owned by Linn County) on Jackson Street, near the sheriff’s office and jail.
So now, are those two parking spaces still needed for the loading of passengers in “official vehicles?” Or can they be released for public use once more? (hh)
Too bad they could not remedy the tree/roof situation by pruning the trees away from the roof, and keeping the tree canopy. Oh well…
Interesting
Sounds like the answer man has an alter ego — question man
Perhaps the City ought consider planting some more of those artisanal metal trees found at the bottom of the Exit ramp into downtown. That installation has been well received by those who appreciate art while simultaneously panned by the art-haters. Anything that draws a panoply of reaction like this is certain to be beneficial for every Albanian.
We don’t need a bunch of metallic pieces of junk. Put plants of trees in the pots to replace the living organisms that were removed.
We get enough leaves from City planted trees in our bike lanes.
What’s wrong with NOTHING? Afraid to save money?.
How about the exit for “emergency vehicles only” that goes from Jackson to pacific? It’s ridiculous
Take the “Tree City” signs down!! WE seem to favor paved sidewalks & streets.
Which has safer footing when wet? Picture 1 or 2?
It is called double standard. The city can remove trees in their parking strips, but homeowners have to jump through hoops to receive permission from the city to remove a tree.