Mangled maples replaced

Mistake costs company $2,000

Workers spent Thursday morning yanking four damaged trees on Highway 20 and replacing them with similar ones.

The maples, which were installed as part of a beautification project nearly 20 years ago, were damaged last month when workers “trimmed” the trees in half.

Apparently an official from Gamut360, an Everett company that owns the Kmart shopping complex, wanted the city-owned trees trimmed in hopes of improving the view of the business signs.

Unfortunately, the trees were so badly damaged they had to be replaced.

The tree replacement cost the company $2,000. The city of Oak Harbor hired Agape Gardening and Landscaping to install four new trees.

On Thursday morning, two workers brought in four pink Armstong maples to place in the spots the damaged trees grew. Each tree was approximately 30 feet tall and weighed approximately 1,000 pounds.

Hank Nydam with the city’s parks department said the new trees are of the same caliber as the ones planted alongside the road.

“That’s why they were so expensive. We wanted the same size as what came out of there,” Nydam said.

He said the old trees wouldn’t have been visually appealing and could have presented safety hazards if they remained planted along the highway.

One passerby, who was part of the committee that spearheaded the beautification effort in the 1980s, was pleased to see the work take place.

“I’m glad to see the city is doing something about it,” said R.P. Fakkema.

Contact Whidbey News Times Staff reporter Nathan Whalen at nwhalen@whidbeynewsgroup.com or 360-675-6611 ext. 5058.

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