A dispute between the city and business owners over the removal of trees along a portion of Main Street in downtown Little Rock for a water runoff improvement project has been mostly settled, Mayor Mark Stodola said Friday.

When construction crews began the water project in March, they cut down 15 oak trees in the 100 and 200 blocks of Main Street. Dozens of other were to be removed to make way for improved methods of treating runoff -- a $1.6 million project funded mostly by a $900,000 Environmental Protection Agency grant.

Even though property owners throughout the 100 to 500 blocks of the street were informed of the project and the tree removals, some said they were furious when they realized how many trees were going to be cut down.

Jimmy Moses of Moses Tucker Real Estate told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette at the time that he had known some trees would be cut down, but he was "floored" to see how many had been. He petitioned the mayor to halt the removal of the trees to allow time for discussions between property owners and the city about the possibility of saving some.

Five months later, those conversations are still going on, Stodola said Friday. But, an agreement has been reached with property owners in the 300 block. An additional two trees will be kept in front of Mann on Main -- a development by Moses' firm. The row of trees on the west side of the street along that block will still be removed and replaced, but the property owners "want them gone," Stodola said.

He said the trees that are taken out will be replaced with "bigger, better and more beautiful trees" that are about 24 feet tall. Some of them are taller than the ones being taken out, Stodola said.

"I've got four horticulturists that said these are the appropriate trees with this kind of urban landscape, which is compacted and compromised by sidewalks and lots of concrete," the mayor said.

Negotiations with property owners along the 500 block are continuing, though the row of trees on the west side of the street there will have to be removed to allow for the planned retention basin. The current trees will remain there as long as possible, though. The water runoff improvement project will not impact the 400 block of Main Street.

The project -- a first of its kind in central Arkansas -- will show the benefits of using green infrastructure to enhance water quality, the city says. Much of the sidewalks will be replaced with trees, plants and other greenery that aid in water filtration. More water will be soaked up through the plants and filtered in a number of ways, rather than being guided into drainage openings and dumped into a body of water without any filtration, the city says.

Metro on 08/23/2014