Plan Being Developed To Replace Park Trees

April 10, 2023 Editor, The News-Gazette: The Lexington Tree Board met last week, and one of the items on our agenda was a progress report on Jordans Point Park.

We are grateful to City Council for listening to our concerns about the clearing of trees and the river bank damage at their March 16 meeting. We thank City Manager Jim Halasz for visiting the park on March 17 to accompany Tree Board members and several concerned park users and to discuss future plans for the area. We appreciate both our Public Works Department and Mr. Halasz consulting with Louise Finger, DNR stream restoration biologist, for her advice about stabilizing riverbanks at the park.

The city arborist is developing a plan for the replacement of the riparian trees that were removed and is researching native tree and shrub availability for replacing invasive plants.

These are all positive developments and we appreciate the responsiveness of all the involved parties. These steps also reflect the Jordans Point Park master plan in which the map on page 4 denotes “Stabilized and vegetated river bank” (GG) and “Picnic area and woodland path” (B).

The Tree Board looks forward to the implementation of this master plan for Jordans Point Park, a tremendous city resource. We are grateful for the opportunity to advise Public Works and other project managers in future developments at this and other environmentally sensitive sites. BETTY BESAL Lexington Tree Board