Union County to inspect leafless trees at county center property

Union County is moving to inspect leafless trees on the Government Center property at 155 North 15th Street in Lewisburg after the condition raised safety and maintenance concerns across the county campus. If the trees are dead, diseased or storm-damaged, officials may have to prune, treat, remove or replace them before branches or trunks become a hazard near walkways, parking areas or public entrances.

The review matters because the Government Center is not just a landscaped office complex. It is a public campus where county employees and residents handle business, and a damaged tree can quickly turn into a liability issue. A close inspection can determine whether the trees can be saved or whether they need to come down, and the final bill could fall on county taxpayers through tree work, landscaping expenses and later replacements.

The site already sits inside the county’s broader tree program. The Union County Conservation District scheduled 2026 tree seedling sale pickups for April 15-16 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the Government Center, with orders due by April 1, 2026. That kind of use underscores how county grounds serve both daily government functions and public-facing environmental work.

County land-use oversight also sits in the hands of named boards and officials. The subdivision and land development ordinance identifies the Union County Commissioners as Preston R. Boop, John R. Showers and John H. Mathias, and the Union County Planning Commission as Donald Bowman, Susan Benfer, Jeff Koppel, Sally Farmer and Allan Gru. The county’s public meeting calendar is posted online, giving residents a regular way to track those decisions as the tree inspection moves forward.

The larger tree picture in Union County points to why a single set of leafless trees can matter. A county tree cover fact sheet for 2013-2022 reports that 62% of county land has tree cover, that tree cover provides $67.8 million in annual benefits, and that developed lands lost 229 acres of tree cover over that period. Penn State Extension’s Community Tree Plans: A Guide for Tree Commissions and Advisory Councils shows that formal tree planning is a recognized tool when local governments weigh safety, maintenance and replacement choices.