Contractor Bringing Down About 10 Charles City Ash Trees a Week

Efforts to bring down some 900 ash trees in Charles City either on City-owned property or in the right-of-way killed by the emerald ash borer has been ramped up this year.

In recent years, the City has been removing about 40 trees a year, but City Administrator Steve Diers said it barely put a dent in the problem. So, in June, the City Council approved the borrowing of over $500,000 to speed up the process.

The initial contract for just over $200,000 was awarded to GDB & Sons of Charles City, owned by Garrett Bellinger, who says they’ve been removing about 10 trees a week.

Bellinger adds that the need to bring the trees down quicker has been exasperated by this summer’s hot, dry weather.

And as for the color coding of the ash trees to come down.

During Tuesday night’s Charles City City Council meeting, a public hearing for Phase 2 of the ash tree removal project, to take down another 200 or so trees, was set for September 28th with bid letting on October 2nd. Bellinger says he anticipates bidding for the job again.