Jill Decker

Will the Friends of the Napa River hold their usual Labor Day festivities this year? We missed having it last year.

Last year it was canceled due to the construction at Veteran’s Memorial Park, according to Bernhard Krevet of Friends of the Napa River, and this year it will be canceled, too. The park, at the corner of Main and Third streets, is the ideal place for the event, which celebrates the river. Krevet said Friends looked into moving the fun to the Napa Valley Expo, but the river isn’t there, and that’s a big component of the celebration.

The event features a performance by the Napa Valley Symphony and the Napa High School marching band, a fireworks display, information on the river and its ecology, and a chance to get right on the water with a tour from River Adventures or the Napa Valley Yacht Club. Without river access one of the most enlightening parts of the celebration would be eliminated. Krevet said that when people get out on the river, they develop a deeper connection with it and it can change their perspective.

Krevet said Friends will come back next Labor Day and he looks forward to having a “wonderfully restored” Veteran’s Park in which to celebrate having access to the river there again.

We have a tree in front of our house, between the sidewalk and the curb, that is probably 25-30 years old. Every year, it drops tons of yellow pollen and little buds that make a big mess in the driveway and front yard. Late in the summer it has berries the birds like to eat and what goes in must come out — all over the sidewalk and car and it’s hard to wash off. The roots are starting to lift the sidewalk, and in another five years the sidewalk will be buckled. Our neighbor’s sidewalk already is. What steps would I have to take to replace it? I know the city only allows certain types of trees. I don’t mind removing the tree myself and buying and planting a new tree just to get rid of the mess and prevent the sidewalk from further damage.

If it’s a city tree — and if it’s between the sidewalk and the curb it probably is a city tree — you can’t remove the tree yourself. You have to work through community resources at 257-9529. A parks or tree department staff member will come out to check the situation out.

If it’s not too bad, they’ll put your tree on a waiting list, Parks Superintendent Dave Perazzo said. Trouble is, the wait-list is years long. There are a lot of trees in the city and many of them are causing their neighbors grief. Sounds like you know what I’m talking about.

If the tree’s pretty bad, you can sign up for the cost-sharing program where the city and the citizen join funds to get the tree replaced sooner than it would if it was on the regular list. Fill out an application with the public works and the community resources department and they’ll get this process rolling.

If it seems that extra money gets you higher on the list, well, Perazzo said, the city doesn’t have the funding to address all of the nuisance requests that come through. You’d think trees just kind of stands there and provide shade, but apparently they get a lot of people hot under the collar, too.

If a tree is sick or old to the point of being hazardous or is dead, the tree needs to be removed, Perazzo said. This gets it pushed higher on the list.

If a tree isn’t sick enough or enough of a problem to be removed, sometimes the city can just take up the concrete, pare and treat the roots, and then lay the concrete again. Removing the tree is always the last resort. The city replaces all trees that are removed.

If the city decides the tree shouldn’t be removed, the citizen can appeal to the tree advisory commission.

What is Glad You Asked?

Glad You Asked attempts to answer readers’ questions. If you’re sitting in the shade of a city tree contemplating the big questions, send one over to me at jdecker@napanews.com or 256-2215. I’ll take a whack at it for you — the question that is.