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Dead Trees Leave Looming Costs in Guilford

Disease has plagued a variety of trees across the state over the last few years and towns are now starting to see just how much removing all of the dead and dying trees on town property might cost in the coming years. Town Tree Warden and Environmental Planner Kevin Magee came before the Board of Selectmen (BOS) on Jan. 7 with a request to remove 18 trees and a warning that there is more to come.

Magee asked the board to approve a contract with a tree removal company to remove 18 dead or dying trees on the upper part of Great Hill Road in town.

“This past year we have been hit hard because last year we were hit hard by the gypsy moth, which put a few oaks into decline,” he said. “We are still dealing with some of the older sugar maples, which are over 100 years old and are dying out and dropping into the road...[We] also have a new infestation...this past year of the emerald ash borers, which is going to be sitting with us for years until it wipes out all of the ash trees in Guilford, so that is going to be a big budget item for us coming up.”

Magee said the 18 trees are all in the town right-of-way and are either dead or in serious decline, meaning 80 percent of the tree is dead. While the trees aren’t on private property, Magee said residents called him about dead trees up in this area.

“Most of the trees I get are from when folks call me and then when I get to the neighborhood, it is sort of a balloon affect,” he said. “I see there is another dead one and there is another dead one, so that’s how you get a large group like this where it balloons into a larger project than just calling a contractor to take out one or two trees at a time.”

Magee said the number of dead or dying trees up in this part of town has been a problem for residents.

“The amount of damage going on in that neighborhood up there…This area has actually been one of the areas hardest-hit in terms of trees coming across the road after a storm and power outages,” he said. “So I hope this work helps remedy some of that.”

All of the trees in serious decline are marked with tree removal signs and all of the dead trees are marked either with white paint or a white ribbon. Because the marked trees are deemed hazardous, the town does not consider resident input or opposition to removal.

The BOS approved a contract with Don’s Landscaping and Tree Service of Orange for $12,450. Magee said this is a good price for the amount of work because of the time of year, but First Selectman Matt Hoey did have some concerns about the health of the tree removal line in the budget at this point in the year.

“Through November you [Magee] had expended about $45,000 of your $85,000 total for that line in the budget,” he said. “For the end of the year, are we going to be short on this account?”

Magee said “yes” and Hoey said the board will make a note to carefully consider that budget line as budget planning for the coming fiscal year gets underway. Magee said the costs are going to keep coming.

“With the amount of stuff out there…I am looking at another equivalent of this project on upper Long Hill Road mixed in with the Guilford Lakes area and there is still other stuff I am looking at, too,” he said. “The calls [reporting dead trees] don’t stop.”