Contact 2 gets action and answers on tree debris in Fox Park neighborhood

ST. LOUIS – On Wednesday, you could feel the resident’s frustration with this fallen tree in the 2800 block of Victor Street in Fox Park.

“This stuff has been sitting here, it’s been collecting trash. It’s making a mess,” said Amanda Izzo, a Fox Park resident.

“I have a teenager; sometimes she struggles to find a parking spot on the street,” said Simon Yost, a Fox Park resident. “I think it would be good if at some point here we could move on with our lives.”

On March 22, tree crews started chopping. Residents said city forestry officials told them the debris would be gone in three business days. Three weeks later, it was still there. That’s when FOX 2’s Contact 2 team got involved. We brought the neighbor’s concerns to city hall, and within a few hours, the contractors hired to do the job were back in the neighborhood cleaning up.

“I was out of town all week. I got back last night and was super happy when I pulled up in my Uber to see them gone,” said Josh Luterman, a Fox Park resident.

While the tree debris on Victor Street has been picked up, the same can’t be said for the rest of the Fox Park neighborhood. Big piles remain on Russell and a few blocks north on Allen Avenue, and to the south on Ann Avenue and Accomac Street.

A spokesperson for the Michael’s Tree and Loader Service that the city hired to cut down the trees and clean up said there have been mechanical issues with trucks and staffing issues in hiring and retaining workers.

They said the company is bringing in another contractor Monday to help with the cleanup and that all of the piles should be picked up in the next couple of weeks. For the people who call this neighborhood home, it can’t happen fast enough.

“You know, it just reduces the quality of life in the neighborhood, I would say, significantly,” Izzo said.

FOX 2 has requested an interview with city Forestry Commissioner Alan Jankowski. A representative for the St. Louis Mayor’s Office said they were unable to connect with Jankowski on Friday to schedule an interview with us. We will, of course, continue to follow the tree trouble in Fox Park until the cleanup is complete.