Earlier this week Matt - owner of Geauga Power Supply (our new motorcycle parts store on Main Street) and myself met with the Burton Tree Commission.  The Mayor and two council members and two citizens make up this committee.  As merchants, our concern was that the Main Street locust trees (or whatever the pesky devils are!) have now grown out of control and are covering the Main Street signs of our merchants.

     Matt had written an earlier letter to the Council/Tree Commission saying that SOMETHING had to be done (I think he had in mind something like stumping them, but I told him that might be a bit radical...  Oh my...).  As I entered the meeting at the Library, Matt was explaining that his motorcycle customers drove right by his place without ever seeing his sign.  I said that many times I have customers driving 300-500 miles to visit my store and they end up driving around and around the square and up and down Main Street asking me on my cell phone where The Gunrunner is.  Many of them arrive here pretty frustrated and cussing the village powers that be...  NOT GOOD.  Unhappy customers are high on my list of MAJOR PROBLEMS.  Major problems mean LOST SALES.  Lost sales mean business problems...  You can't have much of that and survive...

     So upon receiving Matt's letter last week, the Burton Village Council passed his letter to the Burton Tree Commission.  To their credit, they immediately hired a local "tree guy" (an arborist) and he evaluated every tree.  In addition, I saw Gerald Rogue and other council members looking the situation over.  This is good!  Pretty fast response in my book.  Now we're getting somewhere! 

     So here's what they came up with to help out us merchants:   All Main Street trees will be trimmed eight feet up.  Then they will be trimmed away from the buildings themselves several feet.  Then if the trees are contacting the power lines (like at The Gunrunner), then they will be trimmed out higher than eight feet.   This is good. 

     Now, it isn't ideal for a very high store sign like Geauga Power Supply.  His sign is so high it's way, way up in the trees.  Mayor Blair said, "Then lower the sign."  OK, but Matt immediately asked if he had to get a PERMIT to do so...  They'll check on that...  Oh boy...

     I made a note that Ronyak and the mayor's Geauga Door sign is not obstructed.  That comment was not acknowledged.  Of course.  The response from the Mayor was, "Well, we don't have much money, so we're struggling with this." 

     We made SOME headway with this problem.  I would take legal action if my business depended on walk-in traffic, but long ago we became a national company with internet customers exclusively.  So unless a customer is picking up a gun in person, there's no concern with obstructed signs.    I don't depend on store traffic, but Matt and the others do, so a good sign is like a beacon on a dark night... 

     Another problem:  Many times people come by the store to ask me where to shop (especially women while their men play with the firearms).  I find it hard to point them to Christenson's or the antique or hardware store with all of those damn trees in the way.  However, Mayor Blair said that the merchants "on the east side of Main" are not concerned about the trees blocking their signs!  How could this be?  Whoa!  Stop the presses!  So all of the people on the east side of Main don't care about customers?  What business in the world doesn't care about getting more customers?  Too weird to digest...  I sure didn't get polled in this little Mayor's survey...  So it looks like they were covering their ass on this one...

     Mayor Blair started the meeting with:  "These trees are the cards that have been dealt to us."  True.  Whoever came up with this types of trees anyway?  It sure wasn't a business man or business woman!  Oh the horror...  Oh the horror...