Dear editor,

I think it is time someone took action on cottonwood trees within the city.

Because of one selfish individual with a 100-foot-plus cottonwood in our neighborhood, everyone else suffers. With COVID-19, people who have gardens or a backyard want, more than ever, to get out of the house and sit in their yard. Due to cottonwood seeds that is impossible.

For an entire month, it is 鈥渟nowing.鈥� The seeds even come down in clumps. They cover the lawn, borders, planters, and get in food and drinks.

Nice weather is here, but no longer can we sit out with a coffee or have a barbecue. When we open the door, it comes into the house. People with pools or wading pools for their children have to keep them covered. For the rest of the summer we are picking small seedlings out of our garden and cleaning up the patio.

The owner refuses to chop down the tree, but eventually, since cottonwoods rot inside, the whole thing will come down and damage about four houses and yards when it does. What happens then? Who will pay for the damage?

Allison Masterman,

Courtenay