Week # 10 Article # 3
1.
Farzad Mashhood (2013, November 5) Travis County
to spend $49,000 to move tree. Austin
American Statesman
2. Category
of problem: Tax payers money
3. Level
of problem: Local
4. This
article concerns: A problem/issue that individuals/families face
5. Importance/affect on
families/individuals: This affects families/individuals because if the
tree is not moved, the city can’t make
the road can be widen to help traffic.
6. My Input: I think this
is just insane that the city of Austin is going to spend $49,000 on moving a
tree and planting it 1.3 miles away and the Department of Public Transportation
is paying another 245,000 to have to tree moved. I know Austin is a very environmentally
friendly city but still almost 300,000 to move and save a tree, is a little
much. I know the road need to wider at
this intersection but is there not another way to widen the road and save the
tree at the same time that doesn’t cost as much. Another thought is, as the city of Austin ever
thought maybe to just cut down the tree and not save it, if the road really
needs to be widen. I just think that maybe this should have been voted on by
the people of the city of Austin since it is their tax dollars that are going
to end up paying for it. I also think that the city of Austin could have used
this money along with the Department of Public Transportation money to fix
other roads that also need to be widen.
While I think the article may have been misread by the poster, I do agree with what he/she has to say. The total cost of moving the tree is $245,000 and Travis county will cover $49,000, while TXDOT will cover the rest. That having been said, it is absolutely outrageous. A 100 year old tree is not that old in relative terms, it does not make an environmental impact, and there is a good chance the tree won't even survive the transplant. I think they should simply cut the tree down, make a nice piece of furniture out of it, and spend if they still want to spend $245,000, they could simply invest it into planting trees elsewhere or some other type of environmentally friendly project. I think it is kind of disgusting that they will take a sum of money that could build multiple low income houses, or a shelter for the many homeless in Austin and instead they move a tree with it because a few people thought the tree was important enough to name. Just one more little thing to add to my list of reasons why I will try to seek employment and residence in another country after I graduate.
ReplyDelete