Watering trees and round-about response to Ms. Hunsicker from Mayor of LargoThank you for your e-mail of April 7th. In response I offer the following: 1. Why is the city planting trees when we are on water restrictions? The trees are being watered with reclaimed water by a contractor. The planted trees are funded by the Tree Trust Fund which is funded through fees charged to remove trees due to development. The trees get planted along with new sidewalks as part of an overall master plan to build a more walkable community. 2. Why were so many trees planted approximately 10' apart. Are they going to be thinned out when they mature? The trees are actually 18-20 feet apart and a variety of Live Oak called Cathedral Oak. This particular variety grows very upright to avoid conflict and will not be thinned out in the future. They will, however, be pruned and maintained like all trees for better growth and storm mitigation. 3. In these times of cutbacks, how many people do we employ to take care of all this landscaping? The trees have been planted by a contractor and are watered and guaranteed by the contractor. No city staff are used to plant or establish the trees. In future years, one of the city's two tree crews will perform maintenance of these trees. The two 2-person tree crews maintain over 20,000 public trees in Largo. In answer to your questions about the roundabout, this was a proposal being looked at with plans for the reconstruction of Highland Avenue. The Commission has asked for public comments on the proposal and there has been some preliminary discussions. No decisions have been made and staff is continuing to compile additional information. Your comments will certainly be considered in future discussions regarding this issue. I appreciate your taking the time to share your concerns and comments about both of these issues and thank you for your interest. If you have any further questions, please don't hesitate to contact me. Patricia S. Gerard, Mayor, City of Largo
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