After nearly being scrapped before it even began, the City of Tomball is moving forward with a Memorial Tree planting program planned for the Downtown Depot.

In November, Mayor Gretchen Fagan and the Tomball Business Association, headed up by former councilwoman Mary Harvey, presented to council a plan to plant 20 live oak trees at the depot in honor of local citizens who have had an impact on the Tomball community. Fagan explained that the trees were to be donated by Spring Nursey and Landscape and the program sponsored in part by Graco Awards. The council initially approved the plan and the project was turned over to the city's Public Works Department.

But city staff soon found that the project wasn't quite as simple as just planting trees in an open field.

Public Works and city administrators tasked with handling the tree planting project determined that, to do it properly, professional consulting services would be required to formulate an official study of the area. A contract with Kimley-Horn and Associates was presented to the city council at a Jan. 18 meeting. While council members all backed the idea of the Memorial Tree program, some bristled at the idea of entering into a $26,000 contract for what initially appeared as a plan just to plant trees. In addition, the contract called for up to $40,000 more for site plan maps and drawings.

"It's not the plan I'm opposed to," councilman Bill Webb said, "it's the contract."

Councilman Derek Townsend thought the costs were excessive.

"Why not say 'This is where the trees are going to be?'" he asked.

Interim City Manager Christal Kliewer explained that the site plan, topographical surveys and replat were all necessary in order to continue to develop the depot area according to earlier models approved by council from an independent study of Tomball's future growth.

"It's not just the trees," she said. "They just happen to come first."

A "Livable Centers" study focusing on the redevelopment of Downtown Tomball included a rough sketch of the depot area, one that included increased and improved vegatation, sidewalks, parking areas and a pavilion. While those were all only suggestions, the Memorial Tree program is the latest in the redevelopment of the depot area.

Before the agenda item even came up for discussion, the plan came under fire by Harvey, who accused two council members whom she did not name, of meeting in private to sabotage the plan.

However, members of council said they backed the tree planting program, but were concerned with the possibility that the trees may be lost in the future as new development comes into the area.

"What plan does the city have that where we are planting the trees will not be changed?" councilman Mark Stoll asked. "We don't want a duplication of expenses."

An initial vote by council nearly killed the plan for the contract after no one seconded the motion to vote on it. However, after further discussions, the council finally approved the plan, but only with the condition that Kliewer work to trim unneccessary expenses from the contract.

A representative from Kimley-Horn explained to the council that the costs stated in the document were only estimates and that the city has the ability within the agreement to work only with certain portions of the plan.

After details of the plan are negotiated between the city and Kimley-Horn, trees could be planted at the depot in March.

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