The city of Brentwood recently removed two large trees in the 2300 block of High School Drive. Resident Barry Williams said the trees were healthy and shouldn’t have been removed.
He emailed city administrator, Bola Akande about it, who responded by email later in the day. This is her response, which was forwarded to 40 South News by both Williams and Akande.
The trees were removed within the last couple of weeks because they were causing (6 inch) trip hazards and sidewalk damage. The trees had outgrown the area and to minimize the impact staff laid asphalt temporarily.
This is an area in close proximity to the High School and has a high volume of pedestrian activity. PW is scheduled to repair/replace the sidewalks within the next couple of weeks and replace the trees with something more suitable for the area in the Spring. Furthermore, before the trees were removed, letters were sent to the two property owners at 2312 and 2318 High School. They both called and spoke to staff and had no objections to the removal of the trees.
Williams said in a comment on the original article that “the sidewalks were damaged so badly by Public Works employees that they now pose a much greater risk to pedestrians, and the City doesn’t expect to replace the walks for “weeks” — weather permitting.” He also suggested that the concrete sidewalk could be replaced with asphalt, which would flex instead of break, with roots beneath it.
Williams also called a contact at KSDK news he said is a Brentwood resident, who arraigned an interview, which aired Friday at 10 p.m. See 40 South News Facebook for that interview.