On Monday, June 24, neighbors in the Mercerdale neighborhood, found a pile of very large cedar stumps lying in the street next to the hillside. The seven large pieces were at the foot of a stairclimb in the 3700 block of 76th Place S.E.

There were no signs that a tree had fallen nearby either on the hillside or in the yard adjacent to the street. City Arborist Paul West said that the cedar rounds had likely been dumped there by a contractor or tree service company who did not want to haul them and presumably pay for the disposal.

The rounds reveal that the cedar tree was 100 years old or more. There was some rot at the base. West speculated that the tree probably came from private property on north end of the Island and that the contractor or hauler drove around until they found a place where no one was looking to dump the pieces.

This does happen from time to time, he said and it costs us money and time.

People do dump yard waste and debris on the Island. There was a site in Upper Luther Burbank Park that became a problem a few years ago. The activity there has stopped.

The city will come with a loader to pick up the giant pieces and cut them up for clean green.