LAGUNA BEACH : Removing Trees Was a $12,000 Misstep

What appears to be a misstep by crews cleaning up after the October, 1993, fire will cost the city about $12,000.

The payment will settle a claim filed after contract crews directed by a reserve firefighter removed several singed olive trees on a Skyline Drive property.

The property owner, who had installed sprinklers around the trees to try to coax them back to health, insisted that the trees were not dead and asked for more than $30,000 in damages, according to a memo to the City Council from City Manager Kenneth C. Frank.

As a result, the city had discussions with property owners, neighbors and others and conducted an “investigation into olive tree behavior,” the memo states.

“With the benefit of hindsight, it appears that the trees were badly damaged but were technically alive,” the memo says. “While they would probably never have been the quality specimens that existed before the fire, the property owner claims that they would have restored themselves with appropriate care.”

To replace the half-dozen trees with new ones of comparable size would cost about $30,000, Frank said. The city’s claims adjuster recommended the city settle for $12,051, which the council last week agreed to do.

Overall, Frank said, the city’s debris removal project proceeded smoothly, with only a few complaints from fire victims who wanted more time before their lots were cleared or who were upset about the cost.

“The whole thing went extremely well considering we cleaned off about 150 lots in a relatively short period of time and we did it cheaper than the private consultants were doing it,” Frank said.