Thursday afternoon, Dec. 5, 2024, on the Cox Creek Path.
This scene looks familiar, doesn’t it? That’s because along Cox Creek in Albany, trees falling down and smashing the chain link fence of Talking Water Gardens is a regular thing.
How regular? Well, it’s hard to say exactly. But once every two to four years seems like a reasonable guess.
I took these photos Thursday afternoon when a bike ride along my usual riverside route ended up on this path, which connects the Simpson Park parking lot with Salem Avenue near Waverly Lake.
The downed trunk across the path had been cut apart. It looked like the tree had come down a few days before.
I’m on that path now and then, maybe once every two or three weeks. Which is how I managed to record the aftermath of very similar incidents three other times in the last eight years.
You can look it up. The first story and photos appeared on Oct. 16, 2016. The next one was on Sept. 27, 2020. The third was Nov. 11, 2022.
In at least two of those cases, the trees coming down appeared to have been dead for quite a while. The last one, in 2022, was rotten through and through, judging from the pieces on the ground. The trunk of the latest one, though, looked pretty sturdy.
Two years ago, I ended the story about all this with this observation: “There are other tall old trees between the path and the creek. So chances are that sooner or later this will happen again.”
A commenter at the time suggested that the potential hazard trees along Cox Creek should be cut down before they crash across the path. I guess it’s either that or keep fixing the fence.
And hope no one is in the way when the next old tree comes down. (hh)
Plenty of other trees remain standing on the creek side of the path, but for how long?
Put the $$ into a hazard tree assessment and cutting rather than funding fence fixing – kinda obvious. That is not an inexpensive fence.
It’s like so many other things that don’t/can’t get fixed. We don’t have the money!
Now the City Council and Planning Commission are apparently considering changing the Development code which among other things, as I understand it, would give developers a 20 YEAR deferment on property taxes.
Go on line and read the proposal. It can be found at cdaa@albanyoregon.gov
Same old story: When city hall politicians fail to prioritize basic maintenance and repair on past decisions (like Talking Waters, streets, etc.), someone or some other city program pays the price.
Equals: The city keeps wasting taxpayer dollars “investing” in new stuff without a clear plan to prioritize the maintenance cost of what has already been built.
Result: Never enough money, new “fees” imposed without resident approval, pissed off taxpayers.
Perhaps councilor Ray K or an apologist for the city can explain how the current equation makes sense.
Apperantly those trees don’t like that
chain link fence there. Maybe the city could do a study on why that is. I’m sure
they could get a government grant to do that.
The city of Albany always thinking ahead of job security