Editors note: This letter was emailed to the Kirkland Reporter as a letter to the editor and to an official with the Lake Washington School District.

Over the last 28 years that I have lived across 82nd Avenue Northeast from Carl Sandberg Elementary School, the cottonwood trees have caused concern for the safety of people walking by and for property.

My husband and I asked on a number of occasions over the years that something be done about these trees. Besides the mess the leaves and the “cotton” causes in our yards, some of the branches that have fallen have been quite large. A few years ago during the school construction project, we approached the men removing some of the other trees on the property and asked if they were going to take out the cottonwoods. We were told they had specific instructions to protect these trees from any damage. They were not to be removed.

An occurrence on Oct. 17, is the reason for this [letter]. When I arrived home from work I found a note stuck to my door from Puget Sound Energy stating, “A branch broke your service. Please contact an electrician to replace your weather head.” I have contacted an electrician but because of the weather, he has not been able to replace it. Attached are pictures of the trees taken two days after the damage. As you can see from the picture, the branches that took my power lines down are large. They would not have fallen in a neat pile on the side of the road, but rather, besides across my power lines, into the street.

A week after this incident, I saw a crew come by with a shredder to remove more branches from another wind storm. Today, Dec. 13, branches are down from the wind storm we had this past week and yellow “caution” tags have been placed on some of the trees. I am not sure if the tags indicate that something will actually be done, or if they are supposed to warn people about the trees. Frankly, the tags don’t begin to show just how large an area is involved when the branches start falling. Some of the branches on these trees look dead. If the Lake Washington School District does not want to remove the trees, you might, at least, hire an arborist to evaluate the trees and remove any threatening branches.

Paying an electrician to come out and replace damaged property because of these trees is not only going to be an expense I feel I should have to incur, it is frustrating since we have asked that something be done about these trees for this very reason. Hopefully, it won’t take an injury to a person, instead of property, to get some action.

Christine Hanley, Kirkland