[Everyone] Re our trees and recent discussion of costs and fees with master arborists -- Would you be willing to pay $100 to $200 in assessment to check if any of our large trees is potentially in dangerous?

Sun Aug 20 15:03:48 UTC 2023

Hi all-
Personally willing to contribute $100-200 to have a thorough, expert review
of our trees. It's tempting to go with the less expensive option, but I
suspect he'd end up referring us for a more rigorous inspection anyway. I'd
rather be proactive now than deal with a tree through my roof and windows
later.
-Maryann

On Wed, Aug 16, 2023 at 10:09 AM Lauren Rich via Everyone <
everyone at chelseaplacedecatur.com> wrote:

> Good morning all:
>
> Please see email below I sent to a few homeowners and Vincent re
> discussion I've had with 2 arborists.  One (Dave Butler) is willing to
> charge us $225 to come out to the property to look at our large trees, and
> then presumably to  tell us how much more it would cost to check our
> trees.  The other arborist (Peter Jenkins) would charge considerably more
> (as explained in below email), perhaps $1500+ to do thorough check and
> testing of our large trees.  There is a third arborist (Boutte) I will
> contact but I am going out of town tomorrow for 10 days and will not have
> time to do this until I get back (after 8/28).  I think it's likely it will
> cost closer to $1500+ rather than $225+ to get an expert assessment of
> whether any of our large trees are in danger of falling and damaging
> (perhaps catastrophically) our town homes (there are 5 of 11 townhomes
> within perhaps the fall path of 3 of our very large trees!).
>
> I believe in the past the Association has paid for cutting down trees, so
> I would hope that Association would decide to subsidize some of this cost,
> though I know (or believe) there is not enough in our account to pay all of
> it.  I would hope that if we each agreed to pay $100 to $200 -- if need be
> -- then we could have our trees examined by experts.  I am aware that there
> might be additional costs if the experts advise us to cut down any of the
> trees on our property.  However, I think we need to assess the risk.
> Vincent asked me to forward my email below to you, with a bit of
> explanation (as  per above).  It would be great to hear what everyone has
> to say.
>
> Warmly, Lauren (#340)
>
> On Mon, Aug 14, 2023 at 10:28 AM Lauren Rich <laureninatlanta at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> I just spoke with Patty Jenkins at Tree Inspection.com, I strongly
>> recommend that you look at the web site, especially this part:
>> https://treeinspection.com/advice/how-to-spot-a-dangerous-tree .  The
>> expert master arborists Peter Jenkins and Neil Norton work for this
>> company.  Here is what Patty told me:
>>
>> First, she said Peter Jenkins (whom I believe is her husband) is the
>> person who should look at the trees which concern us, she said he is the
>> tree expert in this town.  Second, she could not give me a "firm" statement
>> about fees, other than that he charges $150 per hour (not just for walking
>> property and testing trees but also for writing up report -- which he would
>> have to do if he recommends action on the tree), plus up to $100+ per tree
>> to drill with a resistograph (which evidently helps to assess the health of
>> very large trees 40 to 50 inches in diameter, she was able to look at tree
>> map while I was on the phone with her and she says the 3 large trees facing
>> my side of the property would be candidates for drilling because of their
>> size, depending on what he sees).  If there are 8 to 10 large trees we are
>> worried about, he would walk the property (she urges that as many of us as
>> possible walk the property with him) and tell us which trees he thinks
>> needs drilling in order to assess (he also takes into account where the
>> tree might fall if it is not healthy when determining whether to drill; in
>> other words, he would not drill if there is no "target" we should be
>> concerned about).  I asked her whether $1000 to $1500 is a fair estimate;
>> she said yes, but no guarantees.  What we CANNOT do is hire him just to
>> walk the property for an hour, she said, and make a recommendation -- and
>> then we choose whether to go forward or not.  I had the impression that we
>> would HAVE TO go forward with whatever he suggests once we have him look at
>> specific trees we are concerned about.  That's why the $1000 to $1500
>> estimate.  She also said he is not available 'til next week.  I told her
>> I'd get back to her at some point on this.
>>
>> I don't know whether we want to commit $1000 to $1500 of Association $ on
>> this right now, and be concerned it might be more than that. It's pretty
>> clear to me from what she said that if Peter Jenkins believes he must drill
>> a tree then we would have to agree for him to drill (and pay whatever the
>> cost for drilling and for his time). I asked her whether we could say in
>> response we are not willing to pay more than $1200 or so at this point, and
>> I don't think that would be acceptable.  There is no written contract
>> they use.  They have been in business for 40 years and have an excellent
>> reputation, she said they are never interested in gouging. She told me the
>> cost for some of his recent work for small homeowners associations was in
>> range of $1800 (this was over 2 days and he drilled 7 trees and he probably
>> looked at 30 or 40).  Perhaps each of us would agree to pay $100 to $200
>> per unit toward this if bill, regardless of cost.  (I would certainly be
>> willing to pay this.)  Perhaps Vincent you might want to write to the whole
>> membership, or I am fine with you putting this on our community email and
>> maybe we can vote on it.  It would be good to know how much money we have
>> on hand in Association bank account.
>>
>> Last, I asked  her about Dave Butler, the arborist who has offered to
>> walk our property for $225.  She said he is an excellent arborist and would
>> tell us whether further testing is required on any trees -- and then he
>> would likely refer us to their company (to Peter Jenkins for testing)!  So
>> if we go this route -- ask Dave Butler to look at the trees for $225 -- we
>> may wind up hiring Jenkins anyway (to essentially do the same thing).
>>
>> Not sure what we want to do here.  (However, I do think we should be
>> concerned about more damage from trees (perhaps catastrophic damage) if
>> this weather continues -- and I have no doubt it will.
>>
>> I am leaving town tomorrow for Augusta, then hopefully on Thursday to
>> Canada for about 10 days.  I would be glad to check with other arborists
>> when I get back.
>>
>> Best regards, Lauren
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 2:52 PM Vincent Wimbush <vlwimbush at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks for this work, Lauren.
>>>
>>> I agree with Sara that the price is reasonable. ((I'm actually
>>> relieved.) If the others you have contacted come in at or around this price
>>> I want to support moving forward with the assessment. I think we should
>>> give the others contacted a reasonable limited time to respond; but we
>>> should not hold things up for any one person or company. Let's say within a
>>> week's time (from initial contact)?
>>>
>>> I wonder now, Sara, whether the tree removal that was recommended ought
>>> not be put aside until we get assessment from an arborist. It may be the
>>> case that more action will be recommended. I would like not to have to go
>>> through the special hiring of Mr. Ringer or anyone else to address problems
>>> with trees on several different occasions apart from having the big picture
>>> to consider.
>>>
>>> Several big expenses may be ahead for the HOA. I am still wondering
>>> whether we can do all that needs to be done under regular budgeting. Too
>>> early for me to tell. But I am trying to keep things in balance.
>>>
>>> vlw
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 2:31 PM Sara Crews <sara408 at comcast.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Very reasonable price.  Thank you, Lauren
>>>>
>>>> On 08/11/2023 11:59 AM EDT Lauren Rich <laureninatlanta at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> See below, waiting for 2 more estimates.
>>>>
>>>> ---------- Forwarded message ---------
>>>> From: Lauren Rich <laureninatlanta at gmail.com>
>>>> Date: Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 11:58 AM
>>>> Subject: Re: Requesting fee schedule for tree examination
>>>> To: Dave Butler <treebutlerdb7 at gmail.com>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Thank you, Dave.  As I understand this, to look at the 12 large trees,
>>>> you would charge the Association a total of $225 and would provide a
>>>> written report and photos.  If we want you to assess more than 12 trees,
>>>> you would come out to the property and give us an estimate.  (I assume you
>>>> could do this while you are examining the 12 trees for the $225 fee; you
>>>> could then tell us how much more your fee would be to examine others?)
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 10:42 AM Dave Butler <treebutlerdb7 at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Ms. Rich;
>>>>
>>>> I would be happy to conduct an assessment of the trees on your
>>>> association's property.  My fee is usually based on the size of a property
>>>> and the number of trees.  If you want me to assess the 12 trees only, the
>>>> fee would be $225 and that would include a written report with photos.  If
>>>> your association decides that they would want all trees on the property
>>>> assessed, I would come out to evaluate the workload and then provide a
>>>> written estimate.
>>>>
>>>> Thank you for contacting me for your tree care services.
>>>>
>>>> Regards,
>>>>
>>>> Dave
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Dave Butler
>>>> The Tree Butler
>>>> ISA Certified Arborist #SO-6236A
>>>> treebutlerdb7 at gmail.com
>>>> (404) 580-3917
>>>>
>>>> On Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 4:06 AM Lauren Rich <laureninatlanta at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> Dear Mr. Butler:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> I reside at 340 Drexel Avenue, Decatur, GA 30030, in a development of
>>>> 11 townhomes in the middle of Drexel Avenue between Ponce de Leon and
>>>> College Avenues.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Several trees have crashed on our block recently due to storms.  As a
>>>> result, our homeowners association has recently been discussing whether we
>>>> should retain an arborist to examine about a dozen large trees (and other
>>>> smaller ones) in our development, to determine if there is any possibility
>>>> of destruction of property due to age and health of these trees.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> We consulted the Georgia Arborists website for arborists and found your
>>>> company's information.  I am seeking initial consultations with arborists
>>>> on behalf of our association.  We are interested in your fee schedule
>>>> to come out to our property to examine the trees.  I would appreciate any
>>>> information you can provide in this regard.  If you would prefer to discuss
>>>> this by phone, please provide phone number and most convenient time
>>>> for me to call.  I am available to discuss this with you early next week.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Sincerely, Lauren Rich (phone 404 788 3023)
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Lauren Rich
>>>> Atlanta, GA
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Lauren Rich
>>>> Atlanta, GA
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> --
>>>> Lauren Rich
>>>> Atlanta, GA
>>>>
>>>>
>>
>> --
>> Lauren Rich
>> Atlanta, GA
>>
>>
>
> --
> Lauren Rich
> Atlanta, GA
>
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