CITY OF NORFOLK, NE: "LET'S PLANT 150 TREES [ON S. 7TH STREET]"

The City of Norfolk, Nebraska is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2016. The City of Norfolk Tree Advisory Board has set a goal of having Norfolk residents plant 150 trees in honor of the anniversary. The following information is under the Tree Advisory Board's section of the city's website, anyway:

Be a Norfolk Tree Bud!

Trees provide beauty, shade, windbreak and wildlife habitat in our community. Be a Tree Bud and help support trees in the Norfolk area. 

There are many ways you can be a Norfolk Tree Bud. One way is to contribute $2 on your water bill to purchase, plant and care for trees in Norfolk. Just check the box on your water bill that says "Sign up to add $2 charge to each water bill for trees." Or signup online!

You can also plant a tree. For guidance on what trees are best to plant in the Norfolk area see our Tree Considerations list.

It's the 150th anniversary of Norfolk so plant a tree, take a picture of you and/or your group that's planting the tree and send it to dbecker@ci.norfolk.ne.us and we'll post it on Facebook at www.facebook.com/norfolkne and we'll put it on our website at www.ci.norfolk.ne.us/parks/150trees.htm.

Say no more, Tree Advisers. I know exactly where to stick every one of the trees purchased through the water bill system. If the City of Norfolk and its Tree Advisory Board are serious about increasing beauty in the city, it would be most effective to plant the trees in (1) a publicly visible location (2) where the trees would not only replace an eyesore, but also (3) passively prevent people from trespassing by turning private property into a creeping expansion of the city's ugliest parking lot.

The area is already owned by the city--according to the Madison County assessor's office, the city owns the approximately 9' wide strip of land next to the curb--and it could definitely hold a lot of trees. The location is the east side of South 7th Street, between Madison Avenue and Omaha Avenue.

The best part of this idea? Well, there are several best parts. First, the City of Norfolk does not have to steal  claim  sell a building to the the YMCA for $1 because IT'S FOR THE KIDS use privately owned land in order to make a serious improvement in the beauty of an area. The improvement would also make it easier for the owner of the private property to maintain their area, as they would not have to mow around the cars, trailers, propane tanks, and various other stored items that litter the east side of S. 7th St. south of Pasewalk Ave. And then there's the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce--seeing as how Chamber members are always prattling on about the greatness of Norfolk (before leaving for places that have mountains), surely its members would pull out all of the stops to beautify one of the two streets that lead directly to the Chamber building.

There you have it, City of Norfolk Tree Advisory Board. Take every tree that is purchased through the water bill payment system, dig some holes along the east side of South 7th Street (with the distance between the holes being, say, slightly less than the width of a car), and help make a littered area of Norfolk look and stay beautiful!