SATURDAY, JUNE 4, 2016VOLUME 10 NO. 23SIERRA MADRE POLICE BLOTTER
SATURDAY, AUGUST 20, 2016

VOLUME 10 NO. 34

SIERRA MADRE LENDS ASSISTANCE TO BLUE 
CUT FIRE FIGHTING EFFORTS

Sierra Madre Water Tender 41 was dispatched to the Blue Cut Fire located in the Cajon 
Pass (San Bernardino County) on Wednesday, August 17th. Captain Richard Snyder and 
Engineer Ed Hughes attended the briefing and were assigned to Division Alpha supplying 
water to a US Forest Service Strike Team and a CAL Fire Strike Team. 

Photo courtesy City of Sierra Madre

It was almost five years 
ago (December 1, 2011), 
when tragedy struck the 
City of Sierra Madre and 
did millions of dollars 
of damage to structures. 
Fortunately, there was 
no loss of human life but 
unfortunately hundreds of 
trees were lost. Trees that 
for the most part have not 
been replaced and have 
altered the beauty of Sierra 
Madre somewhat. Far too 
many Sierra Madreans did 
not realize until they were 
gone how important to the 
ambience of this city trees 
are. They took for granted 
the seemingly endless tree 
lined streets until Mother 
Nature removed them from 
sight.

What followed was a greater 
appreciation for every single 
leaf on every single tree in 
the city. (When the Pepper 
Tree in Kersting Court had 
to be removed, there was a 
gathering that was just short 
of a funeral to mourn the 
natural landmark.) Since the 
windstorm, no longer was 
the Tree Commission (now 
the Energy, Environment 
and Natural Resource 
Committee - EENR) and 
their like-minded friends 
the only champions of 
protecting what was left of 
the town’s trees. Support 
now comes from everywhere. 
Case in point: The Ficus Tree in 
front of 85 S. Baldwin.

This particular tree, pictured left, 
has grown beyond the confines 
of the sidewalk and has created a 
dilemma for tree lovers and city 
officials alike. On July 29, 2016, 
the Sierra Madre Department 
of Public Works posted notice 
on the tree that indicated it was 
scheduled to be removed due 
to “continuous damage to the 
surrounding hardscape”. What 
followed was a flurry of activity 
in an effort to save the tree. 
Because the tree is so close to the 
Post Office the notice no doubt 
attracted more than the normal 
amount of attention, upsetting 
more than a few residents. They 
want the city to find alternatives 
that will save the tree.

In a telephone conversation with 
Public Works Director Bruce 
Inman, he explained that the 
current state of the tree and the 
sidewalk pose a public safety 
hazard. The potential hazard 
is not limited to people with 
disabilities, but also the general 
public as the sidewalk currently 
is quite uneven.

Inman noted that the public 
has until August 31, 2016 to 
file an appeal and hopefully 
that will help the city come up 
with a manageable alternative. 
One couple on E. Alegria 
does intend to do just that. 
In a communication with 
the Mountain Views News 
the following options were 
suggested:

Option 1. Secure a Second 
Opinion. Though the City›s 
regular consulting Arborist 
is a certified and responsible 
professional, his analysis is 
necessarily incomplete, because 
a full sense of any possible root 
pruning to alleviate buckled 
sidewalk could only be made 
upon temporary removal of the 
damaged sections of sidewalk 
slabs. A Second Opinion from 
a certified Arborist at that point 
seems in order. It took 24,000 
days, more or less, for this tree to 
reach its mature splendor, but it 
would take less than 24 hours to 
remove it.

The only way to truly gauge the 
root structures would be to have 
the City lift the two sidewalk slabs 
in question. Given the two large 
trees that sit on private property 
at 85 S. Baldwin, we might, in 
fact, also discover upon lifting the 
sidewalk slabs that the buckling 
has been caused or partially 
caused by the roots of those trees. 
But for complete diagnosis, access 
underneath the slabs is essential.

If root pruning is impossible 
without destabilizing the ficus 
or killing it outright, and the two 
Arborists were in agreement on 
this analysis, see Option 2:

Option 2. The City could try 
to seek an easement from the 
property owners to create a gentle 
loop in a new area of sidewalk 
that would curve away from the 
root area and leave a smooth, 
new path for walkers and those 
in wheelchairs. There is City 
precedent for such an action step 
that would protect the public 
safety, comply with ADA access 
criteria, and leave the Ficus in 
place.

Even allowing for the time and 
expertise of the City Attorney and 
others in securing an easement, 
as well as costs of diagnostic 
removal of sidewalk slabs and 
getting a second opinion from 
a certified Arborist, the City 
would still save considerable 
costs, compared to the safe 
removal of this large tree. 

If the appeal is filed in a timely 
manner, the issue will come 
before the EENR commission at 
its September 21st meeting. 

For more information regarding 
the removal of the tree and/
or the appeals process, contact 
James Carlson at City Hall - 
(626) 355-7135.

S. Henderson/MVNews

RESIDENTS RALLY TO SAVE YET ANOTHER TREE

 
Sierra Madre Woman’s Club 
At the rear of the Essick House 
550 West Sierra Madre Boulevard 
One block East of Michillinda 
Thursday, 
September 1 
. 
10 a.m. – 3 p.m. 
Quality clothing for all the family, jewelry; 
kitchenware, glassware, linens; toys; 
art, bric-a-brac, books, media, stationery; 
fabric remnants, craft supplies, decorations; 
workshop and garden items and More! 
For Information call 
626-355-7739 
sierramadrewomansclub 
Shop proceeds support local charities 
Mountain Views News 80 W Sierra Madre Blvd. No. 327 Sierra Madre, Ca. 91024 Office: 626.355.2737 Fax: 626.609.3285 Email: editor@mtnviewsnews.com Website: www.mtnviewsnews.com