It will vary from one area to another and between one company and another. $400 doesn't sound very outrageous to me based on my experiences, but it depends. The best thing to do is to make multiple inquiries from different companies and it wouldn't hurt if they're run by certified arborists. Our neighbors behind us had two 90' trees removed from their backyard and it cost them $900. The same guy told me he could remove a 40' silver maple and do some corrective pruning in our large oak for $200. Sounded great but they were the cowboy type, a little too reckless for my liking. They almost took out the power lines behind our house. I could see it coming before he even cut and tried to warn him. I still marvel that the line held up after being slammed by a 10" thick limb falling from around 80'. It hit it hard enough to sway/vibrate 3 power poles over a 160' distance. 95% of the work they did was great but it was that 5% that turned me off. You get what you pay for. Again, get multiple bids from different companies and get them in writing. I doubt you'll get it done for $75 unless you find some guy on the street with a chainsaw holding a sign that says "Will kut tres cheep." ;-)

First yuou need to take a good look at the soil, never assume anything about soil. If the leaves from the trees that once grew there were allowed to accumulate you may have a pretty decent soil, but if they were, as is usual, raked up and thrown away that soil might really be pretty bad. Contact your local office of your University of Massachussetts Cooperative Extension Service about having a good, reliable soil test done so you know what that soils pH and major nutrient levles are and then dig in with these simple soil tests, 1) Structure. From that soil sample put enough of the rest to make a 4 inch level in a clear 1 quart jar, with a tight fitting lid. Fill that jar with water and replace the lid, tightly. Shake the jar vigorously and then let it stand for 24 hours. Your soil will settle out according to soil particle size and weight. A good loam will have about 1-3/4 inch (about 45%) of sand on the bottom. about 1 inch (about 25%) of silt next, about 1 inch (25%) of clay above that, and about 1/4 inch (about 5%) of organic matter on the top. 2) Drainage. Dig a hole 1 foot square and 1 foot deep and fill that with water. After that water drains away refill the hole with more water and time how long it takes that to drain away. Anything less than 2 hours and your soil drains too quickly and needs more organic matter to slow that drainage down. Anything over 6 hours and the soil drains too slowly and needs lots of organic matter to speed it up. 3) Tilth. Take a handful of your slightly damp soil and squeeze it tightly. When the pressure is released the soil should hold together in that clump, but when poked with a finger that clump should fall apart. 4) Smell. What does your soil smell like? A pleasant, rich earthy odor? Putrid, offensive, repugnant odor? The more organic matter in your soil the more active the soil bacteria will be and the nicer your soil will smell. 5) Life. How many earthworms per shovel full were there? 5 or more indicates a pretty healthy soil. Fewer than 5, according to the Natural Resources Conservation Service, indicates a soil that is not healthy. to see what else you might need do to make that soil into a good, helathy soil that will grow strong and healthy plants. Here is a link that might be useful: UMass CES

We have actually done this. The developer of the subdivision planted sycamores on both sides of the street about 10 feet from the curb in the 60's. Ours succumbed to the blight they get and we had it taken down and the stump ground. Of course all the roots were all over the front yard. We have clay soil also. I moved the planting spot in from the street and over from the lot line about 10 feet each way. I bought a willow oak from Home Depot in October of 2001. It was not a big one at all, maybe 10 to 15 feet. Today it is about 55 feet. Be sure to dig the planting hole twice as wide as the root ball, but do not dig it deeper. If you dig it deep and fill in with soft dirt, any water will run past the tree roots and pool at the bottom of the hole. You want the flare to be slightly above ground level. I used those tree rings made out of recycled tires for the first few years, so we didn't have to mow around it. The only problem we had with roots was, as they decayed, mushrooms sprouted where they were. Those are long gone now though.

I can only think about putting a huge conical or spiral evergreen in a pot on top of the stump. ==>>> in z5 .. it might be hard to overwinter a tree or conifer.. in a pot .. but i dont know WV .... is it the mild z5.. or the mean z5 ... unless the pot is small enough.. over the years.. to dolly into the garage or some such ... i cant tell where the stump is in these pix ... what are the shrubs to the left of the new gate ... you are using a lot of path space ... is there a reason the paths need be so wide??? .. or so formal.. with the wood edging .... you might want to .. in the future.. soften all the straight lines by making it more of a garden path ... rather than a dirt sidewalk ... i dont know.. just thinking about it ... or maybe.. if you have one.. a pic of the garden in full summer growth ... but i digress ... are you sure you wnat to mess with pots???? look into thuja de groots spire.. for inground tall thin evergreen conifers ... you would need to insure single leader .. no snow or ice load issues ... but it could give you the vertical you are looking for ... ken https://duckduckgo.com/?t=ffcm&q=thuja+de+groots+spire&iax=images&ia=images