Town funds tree replanting

Written by Andrew Kersey, Assistant Editor
Friday, 06 November 2009 12:28

The Department of Public Works will replant several town trees that are targeted for removal because of disease or their dangerous proximity to power lines.

Town Senior Engineer Tiger Mann received approval from the Board of Selectmen for a $25,000 reallocation of department funds to cover the replanting.

Due to this year’s belt-tightening, $5,000 for tree removal was in the final budget draft, though tree replacement was left unfunded.

An informal hearing last month included a walk-through along West Road — where trees have been tagged for removal — with townspeople who were concerned about stripping the area of its natural beauty.

A formal public hearing took place yesterday, Wednesday, November 4, in the Town Hall auditorium.

Mann said his and Tree Warden John Howe’s efforts to explain to residents the reasons for removal, along with the lack of funding to make replacements, did not seem to placate those present at the walk-through.

“We explained that we were operating under budget constraints to people,” Mann told the board, “but it still didn’t wash.”

In response, Mann told the Advertiser, $25,000 was removed from the “preventative tree maintenance” line item of the department’s budget and reallocated for tree replacement purposes.

The amount is half of what Public Works initially asked for and was denied in its 2009-10 budget request.

About 25 trees — 12- to 15-feet high — are planned to go in at various locations around town.

However, the replanting “will not all be on West Road,” said Mann, “and it won’t be a one-for-one.”

“We look for the right tree in the right place,” he added.

He said there are about 500,000 trees town-wide or one every 20 feet.

“For years, we didn’t necessarily do anything,” he said of the department’s preventative tree maintenance practices. “We just let everything take its course and grow. So for the last 20 years, we’ve been running around town and trying to get a handle on things.”

In order to attempt a comprehensive tree inventory, which would be a “huge task” for his department alone, Mann said he has approached the New Canaan Garden Club and the Garden Center of New Canaan in an appeal for volunteers in the effort.