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those trees that are diseased or get too big. She suggested that replacement trees go from planters to ground level, and agreed that a maintenance budget should be established. In response to Council questions, Mr. Saye said there were 9-10 Maltese Cross planters that must be replaced, a total of 12 boxes that were unsalvageable. Councilman Leipzig said he agreed with Vice Mayor Howard, and said that the Committee recommended Option 3 so that staff could choose those few problem trees (up to ten trees) that needed replacement. He said that "we all want the trees, it is what's prudent, are we going to be back here talking about replacing more planter boxes." Councilwoman Buchan said she agreed with Vice Mayor Howard and Councilman Leipzig "that I would be very sorry to see this come back in a few years, and have the problem, perhaps, grow worse.....We need to replace what needs to be replaced, and move on." Councilwoman Buchan said there were three former members of the Park and Recreation Commission on the Council (Buchan, Howard and La Berge) and this Council was committed to saving and fostering trees in Redwood City. Councilwoman Buchan said the focus was on a good maintenance program so that new problems do not grow in the future. Mayor Hartnett said his preference was to keep all the mature trees if possible, and fix or replace the planters on an as-needed basis. He said it appeared that the motion would be a first step in a phasing process of getting rid of all the planters and replacing all the trees, and he was not in favor of that. Mayor Hartnett said he agreed that the trees provided a unique effect for the downtown, and although new developments show lots of trees in their designs, in reality it takes a long, long time for trees to become mature and provide the shade shown on development plans. Mayor Hartnett said the shading the mature trees provide in the downtown was very desirable, and he was not willing to replace 1/3 to 1/2 of those mature trees as recommended in Option 3. In response to Council questions, Vice Mayor Howard said it was her sense of the report that because of the age of the trees, they will have to be replaced sometime. She said her concern was that when they needed to be replaced, they should be replaced at street level to avoid building bigger and bigger planter boxes. Vice Mayor Howard said if the motion intended to replace all the planter boxes she would not support it. ITERATION OF THE MOTION: 1) MIS: LEIPZIGIBUCHAN TO APPROVE THE STREETS COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION, OPTION D3 (To remove 1/3 to 1/5 the planters and replace 10-27 trees.) MINUTE BOOK NO. 54 Page No. 236 Regular Meeting Minutes May 13, 1996 Page 13