"If there is an extreme case where the tree is hazardous, we will reduce the hazard while the proper (city) department makes a decision. This is to ensure public safety," wrote David Nelson, an arborist with the company.

City officials have said that neither Nilasoni Landscape nor residents of Beckwith Street ever contacted the city with any concerns about the trees on the street.

Nilasoni has refused to comment on the matter. Attempts to reach Nelson were unsuccessful.

Meanwhile, Julia Engle, who was injured Tuesday when a Norfolk Island pine tree crashed through her second-story bedroom wall, remained in a coma yesterday, her family's attorney said.

The seventh-grader at Punahou Middle School was still in extremely critical condition yesterday at The Queen's Medical Center.

The tree fell through her bedroom about 4:50 a.m. in the 2300 block of Beckwith Street, crushing her, police said.

Rick Fried, a Honolulu attorney hired by Engle's family, said Engle moved her arms and legs involuntarily at one point.

However, "Her condition is unchanged," Fried said yesterday.

He said an arborist from Waipahu inspected the trunk of the fallen tree and determined that it was diseased and severely termite damaged. Fried said the tree measured about 36 inches in diameter at its breaking point and about 25 to 28 inches of that was eaten away by termites.

The city acknowledged Tuesday that it owns the tree. City records indicate that Nilasoni Landscape last trimmed the trees along Beckwith Street in November and did not notify the city that the tree that fell was in danger of falling over.

A neighbor said a worker for a firm that trimmed the Norfolk pines along Beckwith Street last November told him at the time that the tree was "sick" and should be removed.

But the neighbor, Ed Chun, who did not identify Nilasoni by name, said no action was taken.

According to the city documents, on file at the city Purchasing Division, Nelson was required to explain his ability to "recognize tree hazards" and explain how he addressed those conditions on projects in the past.

Under a bidder qualification heading labeled "safety," Nelson wrote that he typically begins by looking for signs of "(insect) infestation or disease," checks to see if the tree is balanced, if it is stable and then goes on to check the root system.

"When a tree is ... evaluated on the record, the paperwork is handed in personally or faxed to the proper (city) department to make the decision on what should be done to the tree," Nelson wrote in his signed statement.

Nilasoni Landscape was the low bidder last year on a city proposal to prune 1,762 trees in Makiki, Manoa and various other areas, according to city purchasing documents.

The company was given 120 days to complete the contract, which called for it to be paid $45 per tree and was to have finished the job Feb. 14. Nilasoni was one of four bidders for the contract. The next lowest bid came in at $54.45 per tree.

The contract that was awarded to Nilasoni called for it to prune 686 trees in Manoa and specifically listed 16 Norfolk pine trees along Beckwith Street.