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Le Mars council debates tree-maintenance role, refers matter to public works committee
Summary
Council members raised safety concerns about dead and overhanging branches in parkways, discussed whether city ordinance or staff policy should change, and directed the issue to the public works committee for further review.
Le Mars City Council members debated how the city should handle hazardous trees in parkways and directed the issue to the public works committee for further review.
Council member Clark pressed for a more proactive city role after several residents reported dead branches hanging over streets and sidewalks. “When it's dangerous, I think the city needs to take an active role,” Clark said, adding that he has seen branches “hanging over streets that are dead, clearly dead.”
The discussion centered on whether to change the existing ordinance that places tree-maintenance responsibility on property owners or to adopt clearer staff procedures for responding to complaints. A council member asked whether the change should be an ordinance amendment or a staff policy shift; the reply from others was that legal counsel should advise on the limits of ordinance changes and that a staff-policy approach could be quicker to implement. One participant recommended assembling a small review group including the fire chief, police chief, city administrator, and code enforcement to assess whether particular trees posed a public hazard.
Council members described a recent case on Central near Twelfth in which an apparently hazardous tree was removed after staff revisited the property and found a split. That episode prompted calls for clearer response steps when a member of the public reports a dangerous branch. The council discussed trade-offs between leaving current ordinance language intact and directing staff to be more proactive on dangerous trees; one council member said they were “not interested in going out and doing city maintenance on people's trees in the parkway” but wanted the public protected when complaints were filed.
The council concluded the discussion by instructing that the matter be taken to the public works committee for more detailed review and guidance. The group also asked for legal input on whether an ordinance change would be required for any new maintenance responsibilities.
The tree-maintenance discussion took place during council business and will return to a committee before any formal ordinance change is proposed.
