Saratoga News Saratoga Union votes to remove eucalyptus trees at Oak St. School Decision comes after months of meetings, resident input No date set yet for removal By Michelle Alaimo Saratoga Union School District officials decided in a 4-to-1 vote that 10 eucalyptus trees on the Saratoga School campus will come down. The board voted at its Oct. 12 meeting for renovation plan B, which requires ripping out two large eucalyptus trees near the school's playground and removing a line of eight trees on the south side of the school. The decision came after a 3-to-2 vote against construction option D--which was best for the trees, but would have shrunk a proposed play field. "Everyone has given this tremendous thought and the decision is coming from their head and heart," district superintendent Mary Gardner said. She added that no schedule has been set yet for the trees' removal. The board has struggled for months to come to a decision on the trees. The issue first came about earlier this summer when HMC Architects' preliminary plans for the expansion of the school called for the removal of the trees because of safety. At its board meeting in September, members postponed a decision until Oct. 12, requesting that a parent forum be held at the school to gather input from parents. According to Saratoga School principal Marybarbara Zorio, 34 parents attended the Oct. 1 forum. Parents were given a chance to voice opinions after hearing presentations from Lee Salin, an architect with HMC, and Deborah Ellis, consulting arborist and horticulturist. Parent concerns included safety, the effects the trees had on the slope and drainage of the playing field, bee problems, water in a proposed swale and the fact that two trees should not drive long-term decisions about the design of the school. According to Zorio's summary of the meeting, one parent stated, "We are called Oak Street School, not Eucalyptus Street School." A petition with 194 signatures of mostly Saratoga School parents was presented to the board by parent Nancy Calderone. The petition called for the removal of the two large eucalyptus trees near the play field. "It was like one out of 10 who said don't take the trees down," Calderone said of the response to her petition. The option the board also approved calls for the playing field to be level. Salin said the current field is at an 8-percent slope. However, Salin said the soil of the current field is of poor quality because of years of drainage problems. "It's basically a muddy pool," Salin said. Geotechnical engineers recommend excavating part of the field and bringing in a "substantive amount" of soil to help compact the field more. He added that water will also absorb more evenly across a level field, cutting down on standing water that the school currently experiences during the rainy season. Boardmember Cindy Ruby said the decision to remove the trees is the hardest one she has made in her time on the board. She said she based her decision on the need for more room for the children. "Schools need play spaces," Ruby said. Boardmembers Stephanie Petrossi and Cynthia Chang both agreed, adding that safety was another factor in their decision. Petrossi said she was concerned about the district's liability from an accident, such as a branch falling or children slipping and sliding on pods dropped by the trees. At a previous meeting, Petrossi also mentioned that the line of eight eucalyptus trees drop debris into classrooms, forcing teachers to keep their windows shut. Salin said the eight trees are scheduled to be removed because three are in the way of a proposed kindergarten restroom addition. Salin said the other five were determined to be to close to buildings and that as the trees matured, they would damage the buildings' foundations. Board president Peggy Koen, who first voted for the trees to stay on option D and then minutes later voted to remove them with Option B, said, "There is no perfect solution." And Jill Hunter, the board's most outspoken advocate for the trees, followed Gardner's recommendation to the board last month and voted against Option B, or to keep the two trees in the playground. "I'd just hate to see 75 years get cut down and swept away," Hunter said. With the decision made, Salin said his firm can now finish plans and get ready to put the project out to bid by March or April. He stressed to the board that the timing of the bids is very important in order to get the most competitive rates. Construction is set to begin in June 1999. Zorio said the school will work with children to understand the board's decision and was faxed some suggestions by Ellis after the meeting. The school plans to keep open communication with parents, students and the community about where they are in the tree removal process, Zorio said. In the meantime, the board directed Gardner to pursue any additional properties to add to the school, including that of a nearby tennis club. The board also asked business manager Ellen Tipton to research where funding for any additional properties would come from. [ Back to Contents Page | Saratoga News Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Saratoga News, October 21, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.