Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Vol. 19 No. 40
Voyager Media Publications • shorewoodsentinel.com
Village BoarD
coMMUnity
By Stewart warren STAFF REPORTER ravel past the gracious limestone entrance of the Edgewater Subdivision and through the pleasant streets and there’s one beautiful tree after another. Maples, oaks, locusts, you name it. Every house has at least one tree planted in the green strip along the curb, and many have two or three. Many are 20 feet tall, their wide branches blooming with leaves. Things are a little different at 1002 Northside Drive, the home of Dan Warren and his family. Their yard has two small trees that aren’t very leafy. The specimens look brand-new – and that’s because they are. The trees went in a little more than two months ago. Like other people in the Edgewater Subdivision, the Warrens had ash trees planted in the parkway, the part of their front yard that actually is public property belonging to the village of Shorewood. The trees were there when they bought the house about 10 years ago, Warren said. In June, the village began removing ash trees planted in those areas during the fight against the Emerald Ash Borer, the dreadful Asian beetle that feasts on ashes, eventually killing them.
photo BY NIck REIhER
Residents in Shorewood’s Edgewater subdivision aren’t happy about losing their lush, grown ash trees to these saplings. But the dangers associated with the Emerald Ash Borer left village officials with little choice.
Once the bug appears in an area, the ash trees have got to go. It’s a matter of public safety. As the trees die, their branches can fall, perhaps hitting a car or a home. Worse yet, they might hit someone. A good gust of wind combined with a diseased tree can be the making of a deadly accident. Warren is a Shorewood trustee, so he was well versed in the plans to remove and replace the ashes. Although he understands why his trees had to be removed, and he’s glad to have the replacements, Warren can’t help but admit that he wishes the original trees still were there.. “Now I have to wait another 10 years for them to grow,” he said, sounding a little disappointed at the turn of events. “But you have to understand it is a necessity. It had to happen.” The village of Shorewood is in the middle of the threeyear process of taking down smaller ash trees and replacing them while also treating some of the larger ones – trees that are bigger than 6 inches in diameter -with TREE-age, an injectable insecticide that fights the Emerald Ash Borer, said Chris Drey, the village’s public works superintendent.
See ‘tree’ page 3
Village approves road salt purchase despite shortage
After extreme winter weather of 2013-14, salt has been in scarce supply across the country By Stewart warren staff reporter
stewartwarren509@yahoo.com @stewartwarren
The village finally found road salt at a decent price: $107.20 a ton, including delivery. So Chris Drey, superintendent of public works, ordered 1,000 tons from Batavia’s Midwest Salt. “This is the best salt price we could find,” he told the trustees during BY THe Tuesday’s village nUMBerS board meeting. • Chris Drey, superintendent The trustees voted of public unanimously works, ordered to approve the 1,000 tons purchase. from Batavia’s “I think you guys Midwest Salt for $107.20 a did the best job ton, including you could, pricing delivery. wise,” Mayor Rick • Because last Chapman said. winter was so After the terrible bad, Drey asked for 3,000 tons, snowy winter of an increase over 2013-2014, salt the typical order has been in scarce of 1,800 tons. supply across the country. In July, Drey told the board members that last year’s price of $57 a ton was a thing of the past because of the nationwide shortage. Village Administrator Roger Barrowman even called it a “salt crisis.” Like other municipalities across the state, Shorewood typically buys its yearly supply >> See road salt | page 2