PORT ANGELES — More than 70 trees at Lincoln Park obstructing a Fairchild International Airport flight path will be cut, the Port Angeles City Council decided unanimously.
Of the 74 trees that will be cut, 38 will fall by the end of the week, officials said after the decision was made Monday night.
Kristen Rucker, a resident of Port Angeles, told the council the city needs to cut the obstructing trees, eight of which were identified by the Federal Aviation Administration as penetrating the glide path of Runway 26.
The FAA banned instrument-approach night landings on the runway June 15 without notice due to the trees preventing nighttime fixed-wing medevac and commercial delivery services.
Rucker told the council medevac services saved her daughter’s life shortly after she was born.
“This is so much more than just trees,” she told the council. “If I would have found out she didn’t have [medevac] available because of some trees I would have slapped a lawsuit on the city so fast your head would spin.
“My daughter’s life is more important than 80 trees, than 100 trees, than 400 trees.”
Cut immediately
The council agreed unanimously to allow the Port of Port Angeles to cut 38 trees immediately, then for the city to negotiate with the port on the remaining 36 the port says need to be cut.
Councilman Dan Gase, real estate ad business manger for the Port of Port Angeles, recused himself from the discussion after public comment was finished.
Port officials told the council it received a report from consultants last week that, based on two-year-old data, showed 38 trees are currently penetrating the airspace — 30 more than the number identified by the FAA.
Consultants also identified 36 more trees that, based on their rate of growth, had likely grown into the airspace within the past two years.
Though the FAA identified only eight trees that need removal before the ban is lifted, port Executive Director Karen Goschen told the council it’s a safety issue for pilots and all 74 trees should be removed.
Councilman Brad Collins asked if the city could remove the eight trees immediately to remove the ban sooner.
“From a pilot’s perspective, when they fly, they are not expecting to hit any obstacles,” she said.
She said surveyors already have been out at Lincoln Park and the port has already contacted arborists and logging companies.
The port declared an emergency Friday, allowing Goschen to award $300,000 in contracts without board approval for removal of 38 encroaching trees.
The city council decided June 27 — a day before the port learned about the 74 trees — to remove eight to 20 trees.
Council members agreed 5-0 to remove the flight path obstruction caused by eight to 20 trees and delay a final decision on the details of that removal until a later meeting.
Councilwoman Sissi Bruch asked the port to save eight feet from each tree for a carving competition.
She said she believed such a competition could bring eight to 10 carvers to Port Angeles and would keep the trees in the community.
She said the rest of the wood could be sold, which could help fund the competition.
It was suggested during public comment the city should hold a town hall meeting about the trees and the future of Lincoln Park.
Collins said that though the decision to cut the trees has already been made, he doesn’t see why a meeting about the future of Lincoln Park couldn’t still happen.
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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsuladailynews.com.
