* Warning: This is an unofficial, introductory copy of the bill.
The official copy considered by the City Council is the first reader copy.
Introductory*
City of Baltimore
Council Bill R
(Resolution)
Introduced by: Councilmember Schleifer
A Resolution Entitled
A Council Resolution concerning
title
Dump the Stump
For the purpose of calling on the Mayor’s Office and the Department of Recreation and Park’s Forestry Division to develop a plan to automatically remove all tree stumps in a timely manner after trees are cut down or fall down and replant trees in their place where necessary.
body
Recitals
When a tree falls or is removed for safety reasons it often leaves behind a new safety hazard in the form of a tree stump. When these stumps are on public property not only do they put citizens at risk and impede replanting or other use of the former tree site, they also become potentially serious liabilities for the City.
Tree stumps are an eyesore and a hazard that costs taxpayers hundreds of thousands by those who get injured by them. In the past two years, Baltimore City has settled two notable cases for $150,000 and $160,000. Many other stump injury cases settle in the $5,000 to $20,000 range.
Tree Baltimore has already inventoried 3,000 tree stump locations in the City right of way. This represents not only thousands of parcels of land that aren’t living up to their potential, but potentially millions of dollars in liability.
There is a cost to remove all of those tree stumps, but the costs of inaction are far greater. The City must develop a plan to remove all tree stumps after trees are cut down or fall down and replant trees in their place where necessary. As part of developing this plan, the City should review historic tree removal rates and the costs associated with stump removal and tree replanting to calculate how much funding will need to be budgeted annually to ensure the plan’s success. The plan should also include a process in which when a tree falls or is cut down it automatically triggers a stump removal within no more than 60 days.
Now, therefore, be it resolved by the City Council of Baltimore, That the Council calls on the Mayor’s Office and the Department of Recreation and Park’s Forestry Division to develop a plan to automatically remove all tree stumps in a timely manner after trees are cut down or fall down and replant trees in their place where necessary.
And be it further resolved, That a copy of this Resolution be sent to the Mayor, the Director of Recreation and Parks, and the Mayor’s Legislative Liaison to the City Council.