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Home My WebLink Aboutre: tree damage ,�" August 4, 1994 Mr. Lyle Oman, Building Inspector City of Orono 2750 Kelley Parkway Orono, MN 55356 Re: Tree damage to 2525 Dunwoody Avenue (Casco Point) Dear Lyle: I'm writing the City of Orono about severe wind damage to our property on the night of July 18 and the afternoon of July 19, 1994. The result of the strong winds was severe damage to a number of large trees on the north lakeside of our property (evergreen, cedar, and arborvitae), along with downed plum trees on the street side of our lot and several broken limbs in our oak and basswood trees throughout the property. The lakeside damage consisted of uprooted trees, broken trunks and trunk cracks. Based on the condition of the severely damaged trees, we hired Todd's Tree and Turf to remove the non-repairable trees. Specifics: • At approximately 11:45 PM on the night of July 18, we incurred strong winds, which I estimate at about 70 mph. The house shook and the lakeside windows were shaking so bad that the family moved to the eastside (street side) of the house for safety. • The next morning, we discovered five (5) large uprooted blue spruce trees on the north lakeside of the property, resting against cedar and arborvitae trees. We could see that come of the cedar and arborvitae trees were broken or cracked, but could not identify whether any could be saved. • Tuesday, July 19, I contacted Les Todd at 7:30 AM and he arrived at 8:30 AM to inspect the damage. We agreed to remove the uprooted trees, to try to save some of the cedar and/or arborvitae trees. • His crew arrived shortly after 11 AM that same morning (July 19) and started removing the uprooted damage. Note: I remained home that day and Les Todd spend a major portion of the day on-site, supervising the work crew. • Damage to the cedars and arborvitaes was so severe that they also had to be removed. • Debris was stacked by the road and removed on July 20. • We brought out Dave's Stump Removal to grind up the tree stumps. • About 5PM on July 19, another severe wind and rain storm swept through our property and through the Twin Cities during afternoon rush hour. Although the property's trees swayed a lot, none of the remaining evergreen trees (seven (7)) on the north lakeside of the property fell over. • On Saturday July 23, 1994, I was cleaning up debris in the yard (lakeside) when I decided to inspect the remaining evergreens by the lake for any additional damage from the last windstorm on July 19. It appeared to me that one of the tree tops was leaning more than I remember. • I contacted Les Todd and he reviewed the trees with me on July 23. He determined that one tree top was broken, another one and possibly two were cracked and one very large evergreen was partially uprooted. The large evergreen, if the wind was from the west, could fall into the corner of our living room. Also, the fear was that we would have another domino effect as with the other evergreens....one fallen tree would dislodge the next. • The remaining evergreens were removed on July 26, 1994. • Again we had Dave's Stump Removal grind the stumps. • One thing noted by Les Todd and myself was the weak root structure of the blue spruces. Les said that between the rich black soil and ample water (yard has had various sprinkler systems for a number of years), the trees did not need to develop deep root systems to find water. I was told by Otten Bros. and Gustafson Design, Inc. that blue spruces do not have deep root structure systems. • Feeling sick about the loss of trees and knowing that we needed to develop a plan for landscaping the area, we contact Cradit and Associates, Inc. of Minneapolis, the firm that developed the plans for our home addition. Jim Cradit recommended that we contact Dale A. Gustafson, of Gustafson Design, Inc. � We met Dale at our home and discussed options. To date, we have hired his services to help us develop a plan for the felled tree area and the lakeside of our property. He asked us if the city required a permit to remove the trees and I told him I didn't know; I thought we only needed a permit to cut down live trees, not uprooted or damaged trees. I told him I knew the city ordinance that says that no live trees can be cut down that are 3 inches or more in diameter, within 75 feet of the lakeshore. • Based on Dale's instruction, I placed a call to you earlier this week. 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