Steve and Jolie Smith: City trees, city responsibility

On March 1, high winds caused a branch from a city tree to drop and cause significant damage to our property, taking down a portion of our fence. We contacted the city clerk submitting a claim for the city to remove the debris and to be responsible for the cost of repair. We have lived in our house for 26 years and have contacted the Department of Public Works repeatedly about concerns over the trees, their health, and the potential dangers of fallen branches.

In 2013, we incurred damage to the fence and the city repaired the fence, but apparently the city’s policy has changed, and it has has declined our request for repair. Since 2013 we have repeatedly called the DPW on this issue.

However, in response to our current complaint to the DPW, the city’s insurer responded: “Our investigation with our member’s DPW has revealed that our member had no prior notice of any of the trees or branches in this area having any outward or obvious signs of decay, rot, or death … our member would not have had any reason to be concerned that the tree or its branches would fall … in order for a municipality to be considered negligent, they must have had notice of the defect or want of repair, prior to your loss, and must have failed to remedy the defect within a reasonable time frame.”

Considering the amount of taxes we pay, we are astonished that the city is not taking responsibility for the maintenance of city trees.

Steve and Jolie Smith

Northampton