Wednesday, June 6, 2007

* Five Trees For Morse Avenue (Updated)

Before


After


Tired of waiting for more of Joe Moore's lame excuses like a long awaited streetscape, I went around him and DevCorp North too. Yesterday, five trees were planted in the 1400 block of west Morse Avenue.

If you don't remember, last month I gave Joe Moore a chance to prove he was really engaged in the community. I'd been hammering Joe and DevCorp North to replace seven trees. I thought I made progress getting his son Nathan involved.

But like I said, Joe backed out with a lame streetscape excuse. I'm guessing the reasons were more political than logistic. Joe won't talk, but I sure he wanted to 'stick it to me'. That's why Joe didn't want the trees on Morse Avenue. Everything is spite with Joe Moore.

But, I don't give up easily. Not even when the little worm is as powerful and well connected as Joe Moore. First I contacted Matt Smith with the downtown office of Streets and Sanitation. Matt put me in contact with Peter M. Czubak, City Forester with the City of Chicago Department of Streets and Sanitation Bureau of Forestry. And from there, I was able to secure these five trees, but not without a little hold up.

Now we all can wait for Joe Moore and DevCorp North to take credit for this action. Probably before the five trees need their first 30 minute watering.

UPDATE:
Craig,

We encourage watering by a trickling hose on the root ball for about 30 minutes per week. Frequency may be increased if temperatures are in the 90's or above for extended lengths of time. Then water each root ball 2-3 times per week for 30 minutes each session. This will only be required for the first season until the tree is established, however continuing this is a good cultural practice that will only help the tree regardless of how long you continue this practice. If you have any other questions, please feel free to let me know.

Thanks and good luck,

Peter M. Czubak
City Forester

21 comments:

I live here too said...

Never mind the bile that is sure to follow.
Good work and nicely done Craig!

Unknown said...

Alas, there he goes again. Craig Gernhardt: Fighting For The 49th Ward and Getting It Done! Oh wait, doesn't that sound like somebody else's re-election campaign slogan?

Thanks for the good initiative and solid work.

proGun said...

Will any of the local business allow us to hook up and water those trees.
I have some extra hoses if needed.

How many feet of hose is needed? What times can I volunteer to water?
If needed my kids can American flyer some water to those trees until a hose and hookup is found.

I live here too said...

Hey Craig, go check out the never cut yet this year grass outside the Wards "Satellite" office on Greenleaf. Not his responsibility, blah, blah, blah, it’s the landlord's, blah, blah, blah.
Shouldn't our elected official be held to a higher standard?....

Craig Gernhardt said...

Joe Moore, tree killer.

The North Coast said...

I'm glad SOMEBODY caused the trees to be replanted.

Now let's have a camera on them at all times, or someone guarding them. Make sure the Soo Liquors people don't chop them down because the obstruct the view of their lovely (argh!) sign.

rogerspark60645 said...

Did the Soo Liquors people chop them down? I've been wondering what happened there since last summer. Side note...I had a dead branch on of the city trees that hung over my street in WRP. A neighbor feared it may come down on a parked car. I gave Bernie Stone a call and his office had the area marked with no parking signs right away. I came home from work and the dead branch was gone. They also trimmed up some other trees as well. Oh and they gave me two new clean trash cans too. For the record, I did not contribute to Bernie's campaign. I just called and his office responded right away.

Uptown Updater said...

Way to take initiative Craig! We here at the Update applaud your tree planting project. Sometimes its best to take matters into your own hands!

Jocelyn said...

This is the kind of stuff that really makes you a neighborhood hero in my opinion (regardless of what others say).

Thank you for getting this taken care of.

And don't get me started on people neglecting parkways. I am about to do a posting on that. For starters, the laundromat on Morse & Wayne needs to get their lawn mover out and the new property owner at Lakewood & Morse does too. This is called minimum maintenance for pete's sake.

Call me white bread for wanting lawns mowed I don't care.

60645- I called in a similar situation on my street a week or so ago. We'll see how long it takes and if anyone has a branch fall on their head and sues the city.

rogerspark60645 said...

Jocelyn, Bernie vs. Joe. The race is on.

Unknown said...

Well done Craig! Congratulations.

The trees will need care this first season. A good project for neighbors to come together for - something positive to care for on Morse Ave.

supersam said...

I think someone fired off a round for each new tree at 12:45AM! How's that for neighborhood spirit! I called 911 so they could all celebrate the new trees with the overzealous tree huggers. I even found a couple shell casing on my home from Morse Gyros...home of the gyro taco! HOW DO YOU SPELL S_P_R_I_T!?

The North Coast said...

Craig, throw up the link to your blog post of last year, so 60645 can see who cut down those trees.

And make them take down their tacky sign so they won't complain about the trees obstructing it.

Craig Gernhardt said...

In the beginning, November 2005 .

What a long battle it has been.

INKJAR said...

GREAT ON THE TREES CRAIG-
TREES, FOR SURE ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO THIS WARD THAN GOOSE LIVER--

Anonymous said...

Soo liquors did not cut the trees down. There was an african restaurant and grocery store that cut down the trees under the premise that they blocked visibility of their sign

Philip McGregor Rogers said...

good job craig.

btw one thing i find irksome
is a long telephone pole
that has been on the parkway
on farwell just west of wayne
on the south side of the street

i know there is a summer games event for flipping logs,
but i dont think this the appropriate place for this item.

Philip McGregor Rogers said...

the log/telephone pole has been there for atleast
ONE YEAR

I live here too said...

How about the log/telephone pole that has lain in the "park" just to the North of the LaSall Bank branch drive through, for, I don't know, how long has the bank been there, something like 4-5 years now.....

Unknown said...

Point taken supersam.

But at least tree-hugger Craig didn't spend 4 million bucks and [fill in the blank] years to get some real improvement to the Morse streetscape done...

Kheris said...

Great Job!!!

'Broken Heart' Past Blogs