The City Council of Webster City has begun discussing the landscaping of the recently-completed Second Street Improvement project.

Landscaping of west Second Street, Webster City’s most recently improved stretch, will continue to be a topic of discussion by the Webster City City Council.

At issue are the types of plantings the council may choose, and whether trees might be reintroduced along the widened street.

The previous tree canopy was removed as a part of the project that also included replacing and moving some underground infrastructure.

One thing likely will not happen: replacement trees in the parking adjacent to the three-lane portion of Second Street, because there’s not enough room.

That’s because when the plan was created, a 6-foot space was allowed between the sidewalk and the curb.

On Monday, John Haldeman, a civil engineer with Snyder & Associates, said that any tree that would be planted in that parking would have to be four feet from the curb and two feet from the sidewalk.

He said later that to accommodate trees in the parking of the three-lane stretch in the planning stage of the project, the city would have had to buy easements from adjacent property owners to create the required clearance.

Now the consideration is for shrubbery, landscape rock and planters.

Landscaping was not a part of the original $3.7 million street improvement plan, which began in 2020 between Prospect and Beach streets.

Haldeman said that one of the reasons it is being considered after the completion of the initial project is that landscaping, when it is looped into such a massive project, is typically the final stage and there is a tendency to rush to complete it.

The council is assessing its choices.

Haldeman will provide them with options as the discussion evolves.