The Beautification Committee from Stuart’s Chamber of Commerce hopes to be planting more new trees in the spring of 2014.

Audrey Wells sent in the Chamber’s Trees Please! application to MidAmerican Energy last month, and if accepted, it will be the fifth straight year Stuart will have the opportunity to plant new trees on public property.

While Wells says she won’t get word from MidAmerican until early December whether or not the application has been accepted, she explains what makes her pursue the grant each year.

“We’ve had lots of damaged trees and lots of old trees.  If they were all taken down at one time, there wouldn’t be many trees left at (Lawbaugh) Park.  We’ve always really enjoyed all the shade at the park, so we decided it’s a good time to get started planting new trees so that when the old ones come down, we’ll still have some shade.”

Wells says the grant calls for MidAmerican to match the money that Stuart is able to come up with.  In past years, City Hall has contributed $500 to the application while Stuart Utilities and the Chamber each pitch in $250.

Wells adds that the trees brought in to Stuart are typically already 10 to 12 feet tall when planted, and she specifically asks for longer-lasting trees such as maples and oaks.

If the application goes through, Wells says the $2,000–a thousand each from Stuart and MidAmerican–is enough money to have about five trees planted, the majority of which will go in Lawbaugh Park next year.