GALVESTON — Thanks to private donations and new guidelines on planting in rights of way, islanders this fall started the slow process of replacing hundreds of trees killed by Hurricane Ike’s storm surge.
New, young trees have sprouted in rights of way throughout the city in recent weeks, but the Broadway esplanades once lined with century-old oak trees remain bare more than 14 months after the hurricane struck on Sept. 13, 2008.
The effort to replant trees in the historic esplanades has been delayed by factors including a lack of money and state requirements to preserve the historic character of the city’s main thoroughfare.
The Broadway esplanades may remain bare for another year as city leaders and members of the city’s tree committee search for ways to pay for the replanting and develop a plan, which must then be approved by the state, to replace the trees.
City Manager Steve LeBlanc is expected to present to council members Thursday a report that details the obstacles the city faces in replanting trees removed from the Broadway esplanades.
“This is an evolving process for sure,” city spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said. “We’re doing something we haven’t done for 100 years — figure out a reforestation plan.”
Foremost, the city lacks immediate federal funding to launch a large-scale project to replace the Broadway trees, Cahill said. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, which paid to remove the dead trees in September, will not pay to remove the stumps or replant new trees in place of the dead ones, Dave Schuler, a member of the city’s tree committee, said.
The committee is investigating grants, donations and city allocations to finance the replanting of Broadway trees, Jackie Cole, head of the tree committee, said.
The city also must submit a replanting plan for approval to the Texas Department of Transportation and the Texas Historical Commission. Both state agencies have a say in what happens in the esplanades because Broadway is a state highway. Most of the trees were planted after the 1900 Storm and were considered a vital part of the boulevard’s historic character.
“TxDOT and the Texas Historical Commission are firmly opposed to moving a shovel of dirt until a historic landscape plan has been put together, vetted and approved,” Schuler said. “And you can’t figure out how much money you need until that happens.”
The city in the coming weeks must hire a landscape architect to develop a historic landscape plan that outlines how the city intends to replant and maintain the trees, Cole said.
Beyond those requirements, the city must also assess the condition of the esplanades to determine whether aging infrastructure buried beneath the grassy medians poses any barriers to replanting, Cahill said. The city must figure out if it can plant trees without disturbing the infrastructure, Cole said. That assessment also may allow the city to accomplish a long-discussed project of installing fiber optic cable along Broadway to synchronize traffic lights, Cole said.
“What we have is both a curse and an opportunity,” Cole said.
Cole said she hoped the Broadway replanting could happen as soon as the next planting season, November 2010 through March 2011. She urged residents to be patient as the city and committee develop a replanting plan for Broadway.
“It’s really imperative that we get it right,” she said. “We’re going to be planting a legacy for the next 100 years, and we want to do it correctly. And the only way to do it is with a good plan.”
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At A Glance
WHAT: Galveston City Council meeting
WHEN: 2 p.m. Thursday
WHERE: Council chambers, 823 Rosenberg
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How To Help
Donate to replant Galveston trees. Make checks payable to Galveston Island Nature Tourism Council, P.O. Box 1468, Galveston, Texas 77553. Note “trees” in the memo section and also note if the donation is in memory or honor of someone. The tree committee estimates it costs $250 to plant and care for a new tree over the next two years.
