Feb. 20--DELAFIELD, Wis.--Baymont Inn & Suites has offered to pay more than $36,000 to plant new trees and to fund other projects to make amends for chopping down trees without permission. 

The firestorm over the fallen trees -- some more than a century old -- put Baymont on the defensive last month. City officials and environmentalists at that time blasted the firm for cutting down or severely trimming healthy trees to give the motel's sign better exposure to drivers on I-94. 

"The solution, since the damage is done, is fair," Mayor Paul Craig said. 

Craig said Baymont's proposal was negotiated by hotel officials and City Administrator Matt Carlson. 

Although it would not involve the fines the city threatened last month, Craig said, the deal would send a message that such incidents won't be tolerated. 

"It provides a means for anybody who would think about doing this in the future (to have) a second thought, perhaps," he said. 

Extending his "heartfelt apology," Baymont President and Chief Operating Officer Jim Abrahamson appeared before the Common Council this week and proposed planting new trees at the company's expense on a hillside outside the hotel. 

He said the company would fund other environmental projects in the city and pay the city up to $5,000 for the cost of investigating the tree-cutting incident. 

In July, a landscaping crew contracted by Baymont cut more than 30 trees set aside for preservation. The trees were in a wooded area near the hotel off I-94 and Highway 83. One of the oaks, with a diameter of 48 inches and an estimated value of $10,000, was sliced to a stump. 

City officials and the Wal-Mart Center, whose property includes many of the damaged trees, never gave the hotel permission to cut the trees. 

The city said Baymont violated the site plans for its motel and the Wal-Mart properties that called for the preservation of the wooded area. 

Abrahamson said he has been encouraged by the city's response to Baymont's proposal. 

"We're a company that takes corporate responsibly very seriously," Abrahamson said. "And I hope that it's demonstrated here that this was not an intended action. Mistakes were made, poor judgment was used, and a series of miscommunications and events all conspired to result in the most unfortunate of circumstances." 

Baymont is part of a subsidiary of the Milwaukee-based Marcus Corp. 

The hotel chain proposes to: 

--Spend $3,000 to $5,000 to prepare a plan to remove dead branches that remain on the hillside from the incident and to plant trees there in spring. Abrahamson said the cost to prepare the plan doesn't include the money that will be spent on trees the hotel would purchase for the hillside. That cost has not yet been determined. 

--Purchase 33 shade trees at a cost of $18,150. The trees would be planted along Genesee St. in downtown Delafield when it's reconstructed this summer. Donate $5,000 to restore and landscape the banks of the Bark River where the city's Veterans Memorial Walkway is planned. Contribute $5,000 to the Waukesha Land Conservancy to help pay for the group's acquisition of the 31-acre Frog Hollow Preserve on the south end of Nagawicka Lake. 

Ald. Ron Miskelley called Baymont's proposal fair. 

"There's no amount of money that can replace 200-year-old oak trees, and we all know that," Miskelley said. "We can't do that, but Baymont is stepping up to the plate and doing the best they can to rectify the situation." 

The Common Council is expected to consider the proposal next month. 

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