HELENA — The Helena City Commission was presented with a policy change proposal on Wednesday in regard to the protection of trees during construction, a direct reaction to the Rodney Street trees incident.
“I think the city is committed to looking at those options, looking at the impacts, and then trying to find solutions around those impacts,” says Transportation Systems Director, David Knoepke.
After a windstorm and root damage from construction on Rodney Street led to the removal of dozens of trees and public outcry from residents, the city is looking to reevaluate its policies on urban trees.
The proposal, brought forward by Knoepke and Doug Smith, Parks and Recreation Director, would change the Protection of Trees during Construction in the Helena Arboricultural Standards.
These updated policies would better outline the Critical Root Zone (CRZ) of a tree, providing a barrier of sorts, in order to better protect trees from damage.
But would this policy have stopped Rodney Street from losing its trees?
At the Administrative Meeting where this policy change was initially presented, when asked whether the trees on Rodney Street could have been saved had these policies been in place Knoepke said no due to them already being damaged by construction work.
“Do you believe this, if this, had we had had this in place before we probably could have avoided some of the unfortunate end to the trees on Rodney?” asks someone at the meeting.
“Mayor pro tem and commission, no, because the location of the infrastructure that was being replaced, not only just the pipes but the curb and gutter, sidewalks, and also the street invaded into that critical root zone to the point of them being determined that they were compromised,” says Knoepke.
Knoepke did say to MTN that had these policies been in place from the very beginning of the planning stage of the Rodney Street construction, before damage was done by said construction, the outcome could have been different. He went on to say that these policies are a way for the city to take a look at all possibilities from the beginning of a project and a way to be more transparent with the public from the get-go.
“It will vary from street to street, but part of the process is to look at it during the, during planning and then weigh the maintenance requirements for the pipe versus, you know, what impacts we’re going to do. … Some cases there may be, you know, multiple alternatives. I don’t know. And in some cases there might not be any. I can’t say that for sure,” says Knoepke.
The proposed updated policy itself still gives allowance for tree removal and replacement.
