EAST ST. LOUIS, Ill. – An East St. Louis homeowner worried about a tree in front of their house that is in danger of falling onto their residence or in the street.
Jessie Bean said the tree had even caused a crack in the sidewalk and she said she has been trying to take measures on this issue for a long time.
“I’ve been calling over 10 years about the tree. It’s getting ready to fall into the street and I’m just afraid it might injure someone,” said Bean. “There was a tree next door that fell into the street and the city came and picked it up after it fell, and it was leaning like this tree is leaning.”
She said she had called city hall numerous times for help, but the issue was not solved.
”They have been telling me since last year that they were going to cut this tree down, but this tree is still here. I don’t want anybody to get hurt.”
FOX 2 reached out to East St. Louis Mayor Robert Eastern III, who promised to help.
”A lot of trees have been growing up for quite some time, so this is indicative of things that have been not taken care of,” said Eastern III. “We do send our regrets, especially to this particular citizen, and it was definitely focused on her property.”
The tree in front of Bean’s home was removed along with other trees in the neighborhood. The mayor said the cost to tear down the trees and repair the sidewalk is around $26,000.
The mayor said the city had to raise funds in order to take the trees down.
”We were able to get that remedy, we apologize for the lengthiness in that, but there were some things we had to work out with some funding issues we had,” said Eastern III. “The funding source which is our motor fuel tax that funding sources had to be approved by the State of Illinois. Once that is approved, it comes back down to the City of East St. Louis, and that’s how we were able to allocate those funds to get those trees down.”
Bean told FOX 2’s Elliott Davis she’s thankful for his help.
”So, when you talked to them that’s what caused them to do it, to get it down because I have been trying for years to get this tree down,” said Bean. “I knew that you would get something done, you always do.”
The mayor said he is “working on getting a tree service program for the city.”
”It’s just getting off the ground. It’s one of those things that it kind of went by the wayside when we started downsizing in public works.”