Resident presses city to address dying elms on South Main; city cites state forester inventory and grant work

A resident urged the Ottawa City Commission on Oct. 1 to act on a string of dying elm trees along South Main, and city staff said the city is working with the state forester and has grant funding to begin an inventory and mitigation planning.

Charlie Adamson said the trees between Seventh and 14th streets are “as evenly spaced as they can be” and appear to be dying at the same time; he urged the city to take responsibility for maintenance instead of treating it as an individual homeowner issue. “I just wanted to rattle a cage,” Adamson said.

City Manager Silcott replied that the city will receive a tree inventory from the Kansas state forester and highlighted a grant the city recently received that will help pay for part of the work. Silcott said staff are developing a joint public‑private mitigation plan to assess conditions and that the inventory will be essential to secure further grant funding.

Staff characterized the work as a priority but said it will take time to complete assessment and secure additional funding. The commission did not take action at the meeting but acknowledged the concern and the forthcoming forester inventory and mitigation planning.