City approves 'Treebate' program

Submitted by KATU Communitie... on Wed, 2009-11-04 14:50

Starting today, if you plant a tree you can get as much as $50 off your utility bill. It's part of the Bureau of Environmental Services' new Treebate program that the city approved Wednesday morning.

Mature trees help suck up hundreds of gallons of rainwater every year, reducing the strain on sewers and local rivers and streams.

The City Council enacted the rule effective immediately because we are entering the best time of the year to plant trees.

Treebate Form

(Thanks to Flickr user sburt for the photo)

Filed Under:

Environment

Comments

Submitted by Bobdoescare (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 15:05.

And will the City take care of the leaves?

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 15:27.

Why should they? It's not like you can't plant a coniferous tree instead of deciduous ones. Then you don't have to worry about leaves.

Submitted by Bobdoescare (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 16:08.

I did not read the list of acceptable trees. I did, however, do a GOOGLE search on types of trees that suck up Willamette river sewage. No hits yet. Been searching for a couple of hours.

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 18:38.

Grand fir ..

Red alder Pacific madrone Pacific dogwood Oregon crabapple Ponderosa pine Bitter cherr Douglas-fir Oregon white oak Cascara buckthorn Western redcedar Bigleaf maple Western hemlock

here's your list of acceptable trees off their form.. try using " click" instead of whine.

Submitted by mkepp (not verified) on Wed, 2009-11-04 15:57.

If this is like the existing tree program, you are required to choose from an approved list of trees, and then some bureaucrat decides if it's the right tree for your neighborhood, amount of light / shade, etc. Other than digging the hole, you don't have a lot of control over the situation; especially once the tree has been planted.

Submitted by Nenslo (not verified) on Thu, 2009-11-05 14:21.

Oh those awful bureaucrats, always ruining everything. OH WAIT! It was bureacrats who made this rebate possible in the first place. And how much control do you really need over a tree? They just grow.