City pays nearly $7,000 for tree and more to plant it

An approximately 25-foot-tall live oak tree has taken center stage at the Brownsville Public Library on Central Boulevard and it temporarily took the stage at Tuesday’s City Commission meeting.

The tree raised eyebrows when a resident complained to the commission about the tree’s purported $25,000 price tag. However, the tree’s actual cost was just under $6,850, Assistant City Manager Jeff Johnston said on Wednesday.

The live oak was planted in the library’s courtyard, replacing the massive, and historic mesquite tree that "passed away on its own," City Manager Charlie Cabler said.

Cabler said that the library was built around the mesquite tree. Herald archives reflect that the library was built in 1994. "It was a beautiful tree," Johnston said of the mesquite, which he heard might have suffered shock when the library was built around it.

Johnston said "mesquites apparently have a limited life span."

"That mesquite looked like a treasure," said Cabler, adding, however, that it turned into a "gigantic dead tree" — that also was feared to have caused damage to the library building.

A palm tree, that was planted after the mesquite died 4-5 years ago, was relocated to the Brownsville Sports Park because it was affecting a gutter at the library.

The purchase of the live oak was part of an approximately $10,000 contract that the city awarded in September to Gulf Coast Contractors of Harlingen. The cost included labor, materials and maintenance.