The volume of calls to cut back or remove dying or damaged trees along public roadways has come down significantly, town officials said last week.
The utility company and tree warden have ben “proactive” on that front, while the town still plants new trees so “our tree canopy is probably one of the healthiest in the state,” according to Public Works Director Tiger Mann.
“Our coverage is quite extensive,” Mann told members of the Board of Selectmen at their regular meeting, held July 7 via videoconference.
The town has been with groups such as the New Canaan Beautification League and has planted new trees along the Gold Star Walk at Mead Park, as well as in the Playhouse and Park Street lots and around Irwin and Waveny, Mann said.
“We did actually quite well this year as far as the number, but if you look at on an overall basis we are definitely in the negative in terms how many we take down versus how many we plant,” he said.
The comments came as the selectmen voted 3-0 to approve a $14,250 contract with Almstead Tree Care for tree pruning and removal at 11 locations in New Canaan.
The funds are in the fiscal year 2021 budget. Asked by First Selectman Kevin Moynihan whether the town goes through the full tree warden budget each year, Mann said the last of the FY20 bills are still coming in but it’s “very, very close” to the budgeted amount. The tree warden last fiscal year was paid $24,000 for the part-time position and the town’s adopted budget for related professional services was about $405,000, budget documents show.
“I think we are in better shape tree-wise than we have ever been because we’ve kept this up over the years,” Selectman Nick Williams said.
As I have noted to relevant town officials in person and by email earlier this year, I believe a number of smaller “nuisance” trees that have been allowed to sprout and grow for too many years at the intersection of Weed St. and Wahackme Road (on the right-of-way along Weed Street in the vicinity of the entrance there in the corner of Irwin park) should be removed. My hope is that action is forthcoming but has been delayed only by the crush of managing the COVID-19 outbreak in town, which under Mike Handler’s leadership was superb.
The sight line looking South down Weed as one approaches the stop sign heading east up Wahackme is significantly blocked by these 8-12 small to medium size trees. One has to pull well beyond the stop line and close to the lane of oncoming traffic from the left coming down Weed street in order to determine whether there is traffic coming up Weed street in front of Irwin park. And not just vehicular traffic but bikes, joggers, etc. The trees in question are a nuisance and a safety hazard and should be removed.
And saplings that sprout up at this corner and on public rights of way at many other intersections in town should be promptly cut/removed in an ongoing annual program.
Now that our town departments are operating at full strength and face less of a crush from the COVID-19 pandemic, I hope this project can now get the attention it requires. Whether the hill/berm at this location should be cut down by a few feet as well to improve the sight line I will leave to the judgment of the highway professionals.
Thank you.