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Residents press council for clearer tree‑removal rules; council defends program
Summary
Residents raised concerns about recent canopy removals and called for arborist reviews and public documentation; council and staff said Phoenixville has expanded funding, tracks nearly 3,000 trees, has a replanting goal, and has posted an RFP for an arborist.
Residents at the Phoenixville Borough Council meeting on May 12 urged clearer criteria and more transparency after a series of large street‑tree removals.
"A lot of trees were removed without updated arborist assessment," resident Ryan Merkovich said, urging the council to follow the borough code that calls for arborist recommendations before removals. Susan DeCherchio, a member of the Tree Advisory Commission, told council she supports the program’s progress but asked for clearer reasons to be posted with removal lists and for a shift toward proactive pruning.
Council president (speaker 1) responded that the borough has moved from a reactive to a proactive, data‑driven shade‑tree program after years of underfunding. He said the borough tracks nearly 3,000 regulated street trees, has an annual shade‑tree management budget in the range of a quarter million dollars, and a stated 2:1 replanting ratio (one prior year noted as 3:1). He added that not every removal is strictly arborist‑driven; engineering, public safety, utilities and other factors occasionally apply. The borough has an RFP posted for an arborist position that has been vacant for about a year.
Tree Advisory Committee reporting at the meeting said the borough has planted 80 street trees so far this year and anticipates another ~80 later in the year, and that volunteer pruning efforts are being organized. Councilmember Moore noted that utilities such as PECO also prune or remove vegetation in utility rights‑of‑way, which can overlap with borough activity.
Residents asked the council to publish documented justifications for removals alongside the removal list (one resident requested that the reasons be included at least for future lists). Council members acknowledged the request and described the program’s recordkeeping and the intent to balance canopy preservation with public safety.
Next steps noted at the meeting: the borough’s RFP for an arborist remains active, TAC volunteer pruning opportunities will be announced on the website, and council will conduct interviews next month for a vacancy on the Tree Advisory Commission.
