A tree at 212 North Fourth uprooted during a storm on Oct. 14, 2017, crushed a pickup and damaged a neighboring house. The National Weather Service in Topeka said winds that may have been as strong as 70 mph caused the extensive damage in North Lawrence.

Forty-one trees in North Lawrence are coming down.

As much a part of the neighborhood’s character as its sandy soil, the old trees in North Lawrence tower stories above some of the houses. And this past fall, that became a problem.

Ted Boyle, president of the North Lawrence Improvement Association, said the October storm that brought 70 mph winds and tore down limbs — even entire trees — damaged more than 100 homes and several vehicles.

“What happened was the trees were literally blown over,” Boyle said.

A homeowner surveys the damage to his property at Seventh and Lyon streets, Sunday, Oct. 15, 2017, following severe storms the night before.

In addition to the property damage, downed trees blocked roads and took down power lines. Boyle said the storm drew attention to the condition of the neighborhood’s trees, especially trees in the city’s right-of-way, some of which he said haven’t been pruned for years.

“What we’re talking about is 100-plus-year-old trees that need to be taken care of,” Boyle said.

Following the storm, the city began an assessment of all of the trees in the public right-of-way in North Lawrence, ultimately reviewing the health and safety of approximately 1,000 trees, according to a city memo. Of those trees, 25 were identified for further health evaluation and 41 will be cut down.

“The storm was so much damage, I just wanted to make sure we were thorough with the analysis,” Horticulture Manager Crystal Miles said. “To try to get a snapshot in time and get everything up to where we’d like it to be.”

Miles said the trees hadn’t been looked at in many years, and the number of trees that have to be removed could be due in part to overdue maintenance, but that it’s a combination of many issues. She said half the trees identified for removal are either dead or mostly dead. Others are being taken down due to large cracks, rot or other structural defects, some of which she said were caused by the October storm and some by the drought five years ago.

The city has met with the neighborhood association, and Boyle said he and other neighborhood members made clear that they want trees to be better maintained, and pruned instead of taken down whenever possible. He also said the city agreed to keep the neighborhood in the loop about the work.

“It’s a deal about involvement in your neighborhood,” Boyle said. “And our trees to us are very valuable.”

In addition to work by the city, Westar Energy will be pruning the trees around power lines this year due to the October storm, according to the memo.

Miles said the forestry division is a small one, and their work is mostly limited to safety prunes and clearing major routes. However, she said new software to inventory and analyze the city’s street trees has helped with their management.

“That helps a lot to manage the resource when you actually know what you have,” Miles said.

She said the data analysis for the North Lawrence trees wasn’t complete but that the forestry department would be coming up with a work plan regarding their maintenance. She said the tree removals would take place in the spring and summer of 2018 and 2019, and that eventually new trees would be planted to replace those being cut down.

Miles said the city had provided the neighborhood association a list of all the locations of the trees that would be cut down and would give additional notice before removal work begins.