City Hall tests tree pruning to save homeowners time, money

Homeowners in Sioux Falls need to keep boulevard trees groomed. If they don't, City Hall sends a crew out to do it for them.

Either way, making sure branches are a certain height above sidewalks can come with a hefty bill.

This week, though, the city is doing a test run on a six-block swath of town to see how much it might cost to prune street trees on its own. The Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Forestry Division is using a three-person crew with a high-range bucket truck and a wood-chipper to clear low-hanging branches.

The pilot area includes 173 properties between 15th and 16th Streets, and Bahnson and Thompson Avenues.

More:Councilors OK dollars for Project T.R.I.M. relief program

Duane Stall, Sioux Falls forestry supervisor, said the neighborhood chosen features residential elements where the branch height requirement is 12 feet above the sidewalk, as well as a collector street, in this case Bahnson Avenue, where ordinance requires a 16-foot clearance.

"We're using new software ... to record a time we are at a parcel and put in labor and equipment information so it gives us a cost," he said. "More importantly is how long it takes to do this area."

The city will use the data to determine the feasibility of making tweaks to Project T.R.I.M., as the tree trimming ordinance and program in the city is referred to. (T.R.I.M. stands for Tree Raising Improvement Methods.) 

Talk of taking the burden of Project T.R.I.M. off of property owners and doing all the street-side tree trimming responsibilities under the umbrella of city government comes up every few years among city councilors.  

In 2013, for instance, then-Councilors Kenny Anderson Jr. and Dean Karsky prompted an analysis on the costs of Project T.R.I.M. compared to what would happen if the city took over the trimming. No changes to the program materialized, however, after Parks Operation Manager Kelby Mieras estimated an annual price tag of $700,000 to hire contractors to trim trees in one-fifth of the city, the yearly cycle Project T.R.I.M. operates with.

Doing it with city staff would cost even more because the city would need more equipment, he said then.

At the urging of Councilor Theresa Stehly, the city is again taking another look at the cost of the program now. Stehly successfully got $50,000 set aside in next year's budget to fund a relief program for property owners who can't afford to hire someone to trim the trees that sit in the boulevard.

But she'd like to see the city provide relief for all citizens, despite their personal financial situation.

More:Why Sioux Falls started using inmate labor to fill city jobs

"It should just be a service provided to the citizens for the taxes that we already pay," she said.

If the city determines that previous estimates to are accurate — $700,000 a year or more — Stehly said the use of inmate labor already being utilized in other areas of city government could offset those costs. She noted that low-risk inmates from the South Dakota Department of Corrections are eligible and capable of using chainsaws.

Stall anticipates it will take a week to finish pruning trees in the pilot area, but depending on whether and tree conditions, that could vary.