Town Pump said it will plant new trees at the site of a new gas station under construction at the intersection of U.S. 93 and Montana 40 after several mature trees on the property were cut down.

Town Pump is constructing a new gas station and convenience store at the corner after the project was approved by the Whitefish City Council in April. Part of that approval required the company to retain mature trees on the site after several members of the public raised objections to the project as a whole, but in particular to the prospect of losing the trees at the gateway to town.

Sometime in late November eight mature trees were cut down on the property and three other trees were damaged.

Representatives from Town Pump say their contractor on the site cut down trees despite a clear message the trees were to be preserved. Last week they met with the council to address the issue.

Dan Sampson, construction development manager for Town Pump, said he was shocked when he found out that the trees had been removed. He said while he is confident the contractor did not operate with malicious intent, the contractor clearly was not authorized to remove the large number of trees from the site.

“This was a horrible, unfortunate misunderstanding,” he said. “We will replace the trees with mature trees.”

Mayor John Muhlfeld said he appreciated the apology but expressed displeasure with the situation.

“We’re looking for a way to turn back to the citizens who were concerned about this property and how do we make amends to our community,” he said. “I would like you to consider additional landscaping to move the project forward in a positive manner.”

Town Pump offered to replace the eight trees that were cut down and three that must be removed because of damage. The company offered to replace the same number of trees and plant an additional tree.

However, Muhlfeld said that wasn’t good enough and the trees should be replaced at a ratio greater than what was removed.

Council agreed, giving its OK to a plan that would have the city’s arborist review the site with the goal of planting 24 trees on the site as the maximum allowable based upon the space.

Councilor Andy Feury said Town Pump’s representatives seem sincere in their disappointment.

“You knew how important those trees were to the community and you should have done better to convey that better to the contractor,” he said. “This is a big problem in the community and we did everything we could to try to alleviate those concerns. I’d like to see a mitigation plan moving forward.”

Joe Murphy, project engineer with Big Sky Civil and Environmental, said Town Pump would agree to replace the trees based upon the recommendation from the city’s arborist.

“We know this is our issue to resolve and not the subcontractor who cut down the trees,” he said. “We know the buck stops here.”

The company also agreed to plant tree species as recommended by the city — ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and Engelmann spruce — and at a desired size of 20 feet in height. Representatives did note that they are having difficulty sourcing 20-foot tall trees from a nursery and that 15 feet tall trees are typically available, but would do their best to get larger-sized trees if possible.

Town Pump’s plan for the 5.4-acre property calls for constructing a 13,700-square-foot convenience store with two detached automobile fueling stations and one detached RV fueling station.