Washington County officials fined a local homeowner for refusing to cut down his tree.
The county board voted unanimously to charge the man $14,000 removing the tree.
The tree was 150 years old.
KOIN reported:
Washington County officials say board members voted to charge a local homeowner for the cost of cutting down a tree on his property, after he refused to take action on his own.
Adrian Rusnac says county officials first gave him 30 days to remove the tree from his home along SW 65th Avenue last May.
“We didn’t want to see it gone, it’s a good tree,” Rusnac told KOIN 6 News. “Some people are saying it’s 150-years-old.”
County officials claim the tree was damaging the street and causing unsafe road conditions.
“They said they would work with me but I didn’t see anything where they actually tried to work with me,” Rusnac said.
Thirty days passed and Rusnac didn’t take any steps to remove the tree. Then in March, he was given 14 days to take action. Again, he did nothing.
A few weeks later, the tree came down and the road was fixed. The bill was sent directly to Rusnac in late September.
“Well, they billed me $14,000,” he said.
Melissa De Lyser with Washington County’s Land Use & Transportation Department said the county’s board of commissioners made the unanimous decision to make Rusnac foot the bill.
