I finally trimmed the CITY OWNED tree ON THEIR PROPERTY this past Friday, but the fun isn’t over yet. It only took me 20 minutes to cut down the branches, but it took me almost 2 hours just to move the branches to my backyard where I have begun breaking them down for disposal, which I estimate will take me another 3-4 hours.
So I’m still puzzled why I have to do this for the city? What do I pay taxes for? Football fields? Swimming Pools? Windows on the Pavilion? or do I pay taxes so the city can maintain WHAT THEY OWN. Besides the expense of a chainsaw I also will a lot of my own time into doing the CITY’s WORK. Ms. Stehly has coined this as a TREE TAX because if you are not being taxed by wasting your own time on trimming these trees you will be forced into paying an arborist $75-$150 an hour. That’s right, the city is in the business of promotiong tree trimmers. So now NOT only are they NOT using my tax money to do THEIR work, they are using my tax dollars to force us into using a private contractor.
As I have always said, the City of Sioux Falls motto “Special interests first – Citizens Second”
WATCH THERESA RIP THEM A NEW ONE LAST NIGHT. (April 6 Council meeting) (Also listen to the second speaker after that, Allen Unruh talks about his pet pig)
I’m sure the trees on your property were there long before you bought the house, but I’m as equally sure they city didn’t plant them.
Yes the city technically owns the boulevard area and anything growing in it, but if a homeowner doesn’t want to deal with trimming trees I’d suggest they don’t plant any.
I felt the addition of a tree in my boulevard was well worth the hassle of having to trim it every few years, so I went for it, but by the time it is large enough to need a trimming I suspect I’ll no longer live there.
You could have it worse – farmers pay taxes on land all the way to the center of a county road including half the road and the ditch even though they aren’t allowed to farm that land.
I’m not opposed to maintaining it, but I think it should be a ‘joint effort’ by the property owners and the city, since we both technically own it. I suggested they pickup the branches for the affected district of project TRIM like they do with project NICE and the garbage pickup. Guess what the Forestry manager’s response was “We tried that (once), it doesn’t work.” I suggested that they put a date(s) in the blanket code enforcement letter that they would be by to pickup the branches. All I got was blank stares after the suggestion. The problem with many of the city department heads is that they have the mentality that it is US vs. THEM, and they instill that in their employees. City workers should be trained in customer service, they are here to SERVE US, not find ways to punish us.
Well I agree they are here to serve us and I agree they often forget that.
I wonder what other cities do. I also wonder why only select parts of town are ever involved in the trash pickup. I have a friend who has had the city pick up his crap for three years in a row meanwhile if I have anything to get rid of I have to haul it to the landfill.
This brings up another point I have however. I think the city should have a dropoff point for leaves, grass, branches, and other organic material (Xmas trees etc) that is free of charge and open to the public year round.
The leaves, grass, and other organic material could be piled and turned into compost whie the trees and branches could be ground into mulch. The compost and mulch could be used in city parks or given to residents free of charge.
Why charge a few bucks for a truckload – why not turn it into an opportunity so people would be more willing to dispose of them refuse in a responsible manner and prevent it from clogging landfills.
The only hangup I have is that if you leave the place unattended you will have people dump trash and leave plastic bags behind, so then you are stuck paying someone to sit there and babysit. In that case you might have to just limit hours of operation to two days a week (say a Wednesday and a Saturday) in order to keep labor costs down.
“This brings up another point I have however. I think the city should have a dropoff point for leaves, grass, branches, and other organic material (Xmas trees etc) that is free of charge and open to the public year round.”
I agree 100% I think they could do it at the landfill in a designated area. Obviously, they would have to inspect your load to make sure you aren’t dropping off your broken washer and dryer.