Bernard project begins, to chagrin of some

After weeks of efforts by homeowners to stop the process, chain saws roared as crews began cutting down trees along Bernard Street on Spokane’s South Hill on Thursday.

A handful of neighbors watched as the first tree – a maple estimated at 60 to 70 years old – was limbed to ready it for removal. The logging of it and 16 other street trees is in preparation for a $1.8 million project to rebuild and resurface Bernard from West 14th Avenue to West 29th Avenue.

Opponents contend that the city is not following its own guidelines in deciding to remove the maples, sycamores and elms that arborists say are unhealthy and potentially unstable. A judge recently denied a group’s request that the work be delayed.

Removal will take about four days, said Rick McIntire, co-owner of Tall Tree of Eastern Washington, the company contracted to cut down the trees.

He used a saw to lop off upper limbs, leaving only trunks and sawdust behind, while workers below muscled leafy branches into a large shredder. Avista Corp. contractors elsewhere carefully trimmed branches away from power lines.

Several area residents said Thursday that they still believe the city failed to consider alternatives to logging, while others said they saw a need to cut the trees.

One resident pulled up in his car, yelled at the Tall Tree crew and made obscene gestures with both hands. He returned with a camera and took pictures of the license plates of the work vehicles.

Kari Nevin, a four-year neighborhood resident, watched the crews work on a tree next to her property at the corner of Bernard and West 20th Avenue. She was involved with the lawsuit to try to help save the trees, Nevin said.

“It’s part of why we all live up here – for the old trees,” she said.

Nevin said she expects her two-story brick home will get hotter in summer once the trees are removed.

Neighbor E.J. Foerster said he expected crews to cut down the sycamore near his Bernard home today. He said removing the trees might cause people to drive faster on the street, which has a speed limit of 30 mph. Both residents and the city “want a beautiful street,” he said.

“It’s needed; it just seemed to some of us that they didn’t communicate well,” he said.

But another neighbor, Sal Windler, said there’s been too much talk about the project. The trees need to be cut because they might fall during ice storms and because they pose a traffic hazard by creating dark areas, Windler said.

“All the meetings have driven the cost of the project way out of hand,” he said.

Neighbor Bob Herold used two digital cameras simultaneously to document the logging near Bernard and West 22nd Avenue. He predicted additional trees along Bernard and nearby streets will die and will need to be removed because repaving work will cut their roots. The solution, he said, is to move curbs out to allow room for large trees.

“What the city’s doing is disgraceful,” he said.

Amy Shook, who lives in a historic home on West 22nd Avenue, said she was drawn to the Cannon Hill Park neighborhood because of the trees and old homes.

But now, she said, “They’re going to turn Bernard into the north end of town.” Shook theorized that the city is trying to drive residents out in favor of businesses.

“This town is so grub happy for tax dollars that they are going to insane measures to accomplish it,” she said.

Truckloads of wood from the project will be carted to Tall Tree property and offered as free firewood, said Dick McIntire, Rick McIntire’s father and Tall Tree’s co-owner.

Bernard is temporarily closed, and access is limited on side streets.

The resurfacing project, originally slated for completion before school starts, is now expected to be finished in mid- to late September, said Staci Lehman, a spokeswoman for the city.

Crews will try to finish work at intersections near schools around West 14th and 15th avenues before school starts to avoid disrupting traffic.

Staff time and legal fees resulting from the delay will increase the cost of the $9,700 tree removal, she said.