At the Feb. 28 Board of Commissioners meeting, Commissioner Frank Troy shared progress made on the Dead T.R.E.E. (Tree Rapid Execution Event) program during department reports. The program is a focused effort to remove dead and dying trees after falling behind in recent years. The majority of trees are Ash trees that have been hit by the Ash Borer, an insect that infects the trees and leaves them brittle and in danger of falling. Since beginning three weeks ago, the tree teams set out with a goal of 11.5 trees a week.
“Last year we took down 79 trees total in the entire year,” said Commissioner Frank Troy. “So far, against our plan of 34.5 trees, we’ve taken down 83 trees.”
While the initial goal was to remove 150 trees, Troy estimates they will surpass that number and reach perhaps up to 200 trees or more.
Along with this initiative, the commissioners also passed two resolutions authorizing bids for stalk and stump removal services as well as stump removal services to help outsource some of the work that needs to be done once the Dead T.R.E.E. program ends on April 30. The teams have been focused on stalking the trees, which means cutting off all the branches and leaving a stalk of the tree behind, and occasionally removing the tree all together if it’s small enough.
Other efforts made recently by the public works department include the completion of an energy saver program where PSE&G replaced all light fixtures in borough buildings with LED lights and also upgraded the HVAC system at the public works building to be more energy efficient.
While the majority of public works is involved with Dead T.R.E.E., Superintendent of Public Works Greg Ley reported that the remaining members have been filling potholes and taking note of missing and/or damaged street signs to be replaced.
Ley also shared that PSE&G was almost finished replacing the street lights on the list they and the Haddonfield Police Department compiled.
Douglas Johnson, project manager and traffic engineer at Remington & Vernick Engineers, said that the demolition for the old Bancroft property was pending utility disconnects from PSE&G before they started the demolition and that the historic buildings have been marked off so they are safe.
In other news;
- The borough proclaimed March to be Women’s History Month
- The borough proclaimed third week of March to be National Drug Prevention Week
- The commissioners approved multiple events to take place in the upcoming months which include a Friends of the Indian King Tavern Museum’s Speaker Series at Borough Hall in April and May, an Earth Day celebration on April 22 at Kings Court, the Mayor’s Wellness Campaign that begins on May 7, a 5-week running program along Kings Highway on Sundays in May and June and other regularly scheduled holiday events
- Richard Gade was appointed as Haddonfield Auxiliary Police and Mitchel Baron to be an active member of the Haddonfield Fire Company 1
The next virtual board of commissioners’ work session will be on March 14 at 6:30 p.m.
