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Council directs staff to notify owner about hazardous trees at Broadway and Mills; city may remove after 30 days
Summary
The council authorized staff to notify the owner of the 501 W. Broadway property about obstructing trees, give 30 days to respond with a removal plan, and proceed to remove the hazard and assess costs to the property if there is no response; staff estimated removal could cost in the mid-teens of thousands of dollars.
Robert Thompson, the city's building official, outlined safety problems at the intersection of Broadway and Mills Street, saying trees at 501 W. Broadway obstruct sightlines, are lifting sidewalks and present falling-branch hazards.
"This could cost the city if a property owner decides not to do it... It takes us 15,000 because 20,000. There's 5 trees there," Thompson said while describing the safety risk and the estimated cost range. (Presentation and remarks by Robert Thompson.)
Thompson asked the council for authority to notify the property owner, give them 30 days to respond with a plan to remove the hazard, and, if the owner fails to respond, to proceed with removal and assess the cost to the adjacent property owner. A councilmember moved to direct city staff to follow that process; another councilmember seconded. The mayor called the question and the motion passed unanimously.
During public comment, a resident named Roger asked whether the owner had been previously contacted; Thompson said a letter would be sent to the owner tomorrow and that the address had been used in prior reports but the council had not initiated contact before receiving approval to proceed.
Council members and staff discussed administrative details — possible timelines for completion if an owner proposes a plan, the use of liens to secure costs, and the fact that the process will move case-by-case rather than attempting immediate widescale enforcement for similar conditions elsewhere in town. The council did not set a firm completion deadline but discussed 60 days as an illustrative target if the owner presents an acceptable plan.
Outcome: Council voted to direct staff to notify the property owner, give 30 days to respond, and proceed with city removal and assessment of costs if no acceptable plan is submitted. No payment schedule or precise contractor selection was finalized at the meeting.
