Bee Editorial
Costs keeping trees' destiny unknown
Storm-damaged trees may start coming down as soon as July and there stands a good chance that residents won't know if a tree near their property will go or stay.

Highway Superintendent Bob Anderson said he has the final list from the Erie County certified arborist and it included 9,500 trees in the town's public right of way - 1,500 more than initially thought.

He estimates the cost of letting residents know is $7,000 in postage and he doesn't have that in his budget.

It is upsetting to hear that work has to be done by Oct. 12 or else the Federal Emergency Management Agency won't pay. What's worse is trees in question might be coming down now. That's because should the town "wait and see," the town would have to pay if the tree should die later.

So 9,500 trees are scheduled to come down and Anderson said some specific areas will be hit hard and the town has to follow the arborist's recommendations.

At press time the only recommendation told to The Amherst Bee was a schedule, following the sanding routes, would be posted on the town's Web site. The company, to be hired to cut the trees, would follow the established route so residents could expect when crews would be on their street.

Supervisor Satish Mohan said he feels bad there has been a lack of communication with the residents and wants them to be included but didn't offer a suggestion as to how. That $7,000 figure is in addition to millions needed for tree removal and stump grinding.

For residents not able to attend the marathon meetings it should be noted the Town Board has talked about a program to let residents know which trees will be gone. We agree with what you may be thinking - them talking about it doesn't help you any.

Maybe the residents don't need to know because they have no say in what goes or what stays. If you want to know let the Town Board and Mohan know that.

Just as a point of information - the orange tags and X's on trees mean nothing. What will mean something is the day the trucks pull up and the first of 9,500 trees are taken down.

We hope that $7,000 can be found somewhere to mail residents information. If not why not post more than the schedule on the Web site?

The Amherst Town Hall may still be in the "Jurassic period" when it comes to WiFi, as Council Member Dan Ward says, but there must be something that can be posted on the Web - at the very least the streets. We understand 9,500 trees are a lot, but 9,500 upset residents complaining takes a lot more time.