Storm brings unexpected costs

Golden Valley, which at least twice in previous years made a special effort to help residents get rid of storm debris, announced Monday that it can't afford to do that after a Friday storm flattened trees and damaged some homes.

"People are very disappointed," said City Manager Tom Burt. "We sympathize for them, and we pride ourselves on giving good services. But [the city] has lost people over the last few years and we just can't afford to do it this time."

Mary Young is more than disappointed.

"I'm mad," she said, as she chatted with other residents alongside the stump from an old maple tree that had been cut down in her neighbor's yard. She and her neighbors neatly stacked brush, logs and branches along their curbs, expecting city crews to pick up the debris as they have in previous storms. Young said she will call city officials to urge them to reconsider helping with storm debris.

"[Residents] had to pay to take the trees down," she said. "The city could at least come pick it up. This is part of being a community. It was a natural disaster and you would expect the city to help."

Friday's winds knocked down trees and damaged some homes and vehicles, mostly in the city's northwest corner. Burt said that when city officials surveyed the damage on Saturday, they noticed some homeowners working with private contractors to remove felled trees while others were piling debris on boulevards as if they expected the city to pick the material up.

The city did that after big storms in the late 1990s and in 2008, Burt said. But he said those were special efforts that were a departure from the city's policy to clear streets, right-of-ways and public property but leave cleanup of downed and damaged trees on private property to landowners. At the time, four to five other cities were able to come in and help with debris pickup. Burt estimated those efforts may have cost $140,000 in disposal costs and staff time.

As Sharon Bourne continued to pick up Monday after the storm sheared the tops of two towering oaks on her property, she shrugged off the city's decision to leave the storm cleanup to residents. "It would have been wonderful if the city could have helped," she said. "But it's just about budgets. It's tight everywhere."

Minneapolis reported about 20 downed trees from the storm. The city collects yard waste and brush from residents each week so long as it is tied in bundles that weigh less than 40 pounds and branches are less than 3 inches in diameter. Removal of tree trunks or large branches from trees on private property is the responsibility of homeowners, said Susan Young, the city's solid waste director.