A Wausau homeowner wanted to fix a wet basement. He hired a contractor, who dug a trench for a French drain along the front of his property. The trench cut through the roots of a linden tree, and by August the tree was dying.
The homeowner thought the tree was his. It belonged to the city. Earlier this month, Wausau’s Parks and Recreation Committee voted 4-0 to make him pay a $550 damage fee for it, Wausau Pilot & Review reported on Oct. 7.
A Basement Flood, a Trench and a Dying Linden
The homeowner, who lives on Stoneridge Drive and was not named in the report, bought the house in September 2024. His basement flooded the first spring after he moved in. He told the committee the flood ruined about $30,000 worth of belongings.
To stop it from happening again, he hired a contractor to dig a drainage trench for a French drain. The contractor left the job unfinished, and no permits were pulled for the digging. The trench ran close to a linden tree standing in the public right-of-way in front of the house. The work also damaged the curb…