Who will pay for idea?

The proposal is intriguing -- Oberlin plants 175 trees and Oberlin College plants 175 trees to symbolize the 175 years of history of both college and town. No doubt the idea will find supporters in our fair town.

And why not? For years the symbol of our town was a tree, the historic elm at the corner of Main and College Streets, where John Shipherd and Philo Stewart are said to have tied their horses and determined to build their Christian utopia.

Many of our street names pay tribute to the forest of oak, elm, locust, and walnut trees that were cleared to put those streets in. The trees on Tappan Square are a delight to behold in any season of the year.

For our part the only questions would seem to be what the proposal will cost and who will pay the cost. We question how wise it would be for city council to authorize such an expense and plant the trees, as suggested in October, one month before asking voters for a 0.2 percent income tax levy.

This clearly puts council in a difficult spot, but one in which the fine people of Oberlin can help them. Perhaps council could ask residents to sponsor a tree or two.

Perhaps the Environmental Defense Fund and other environmental groups, who were so concerned when Oberlin was considering participating in AMP-Ohio's coal-fired power plant, could make contributions to make Oberlin greener. Perhaps other groups would like to contribute.

We urge council to explore these and other ideas for funding the proposal. We would hate to see this idea die for lack of money, almost as much as to see money needed elsewhere going to fund this idea.