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Update September 11, 2013- The stumps have finally been removed. Of course, Matt Monahan, the BPCA’s bumbling PR man who runs the BPCA website, and Anne Fenton, are spinning this 6-month delay of this simple task as a positive “See what great work we are doing for you” by proudly posting photos of this achievement on the BPCA website.
Update July 22, 2013- As we first reported exclusively, the BPCA is planning to chop down more trees on the esplanade that are still standing and that were not obviously damaged by the storms. Of course, anytime a tree is cut, controversy brews, so the BPCA propaganda team is in full mode, citing “tree experts” that claim the “roots were damaged’ making the trees “unsafe”. Also, the conspicuous stumps have been left in tilted position as a blatant PR stunt to send the message “See what happened.”
Do not be surprised to learn that the job to remove the trees will be outsourced to contractors, even though the BPCA has historically handled such matters with the in-house Parks Conservancy teams.
July 13, 2013- By Steven E. Greer
If you are wondering why the tree stumps are still standing askew, leaning over onto Merchant’s River House, two months after the storm, you are not alone. Restaurant owner Abraham Merchant does not know why the BPCA has left them standing there either.
The BPC Parks Conservancy, overseen by the BPCA’s VP of Operations, Anne Fenton (who also doubles as a community liaison and media relations spokesperson), has the capability in-house to chainsaw the stumps into smaller logs and then turn them into mulch, as they did with the rest of the trees, and have done many times over the years. This has been a process quickly performed in previous storms with previous felled trees of the same diameter and size.
What is different this time is that the BPCA has made an executive decision to severely trim, and chop down entirely, standing trees in some sort of preemptive measure for future storms. Chopping down trees is always an unpopular move for local officials, regardless of the merit.
Sources within the Parks Conservancy tell us that the BPCA instructed them to leave the stumps present, in the most obvious of manner, the serve as a reminder of what can happen in order to justify the ongoing tree removal. The stumps are a PR tool.
Aside, the tree stumps are still alive. It might be an interesting and safe monument to stand them upright again and slowly grow back over the years, as a sign of defiance to storms. Perhaps the community should start a “Save the stumps” campaign.
