Whitefish City Council last week approved an agreement with Town Pump to replace trees at its under construction gas station at the corner of U.S. 93 and Montana 40, but not before adding a stipulation that the trees be replaced as soon as feasible and if any of the new trees do not survive for at least five years they would also be replanted.

Town Pump approached the city in December offering an apology and to replace 11 mature trees on the property that were cut down or damaged the month prior. Representatives from the company said their contractor cut down the trees.

Part of the city approval for the new gas station and convenience store included requiring the company to retain mature trees on the site. It was an issue raised by several people during public hearings.

Council last week OK’d a memorandum of understanding with Town Pump requiring that 22 trees be planted with input from the city’s arborist.

“We can’t replace the trees, but this seems to be the best mitigation we can do,” City Attorney Angela Jacobs told Council.

Town Pump originally offered to replace the trees that were cut down and damaged, and plant an additional tree beyond that. However, back in December Council said they wanted trees replaced at a greater ratio than what was lost based upon the maximum possible for the space available.

Council also suggested that trees be replaced at a height of 20-feet in size. Town Pump’s arborist in a letter to the city, however, said that smaller trees would be easier to plant and have a better chance of survival. It’s an opinion the city’s arborist agreed with.

"Larger trees will be harder to establish because more of the roots will be cut when the tree is

pulled from the nursery, and they will be harder to plant simply because of their size,” the city’s arborist noted. “Though it is possible to plant larger trees, research suggests that larger trees take longer to establish. A

better long-term strategy is planting smaller trees that are more viable and achieve the same eventual goal."

Councilor Steve Qunell pointed out that the agreement didn’t include any remedy if the newly planted trees were to not survive.

“There’s nothing in the MOU that says if the trees die they need to replace them,” he said. “They are required to monitor them for five years, so if in that time the trees die then they should have to replace them.”

Councilor Frank Sweeney also made a suggestion that the trees be planted as soon as allowable as directed by the arborist.

“I want them to be replaced as soon as possible,” he said. “They need to coordinate with city staff about when to plant them, but I’d like to see it done by the end of the year.”

The agreement also requires that Town Pump obtain the replacement trees from local nurseries with the intention that those trees would have a better chance of survival.

In addition, Town Pump is required to hire a certified arborist to establish tree protection zones for the remaining trees during construction and to perform annual inspection of the trees for five years. Also, the company must submit an updated landscaping plan to the city for approval showing the location of the replacement trees.