The Oxford Tree Warden blew through his $32,000 yearly budget in a matter of four months this fiscal year, in an effort to remove more than 70 trees from town.
The trees were damaged and needed to be cut down, according to Joe Dempsey Jr., the town’s new tree warden.
Dempsey — who requested another $16,000 from the town last week — said the reason he had to cut down so many trees at once was because the bad trees had accumulated without anyone in town taking care of them.
“There are so many bad trees […] which in my eyes are extremely dangerous,” Dempsey said. “I am not putting the blame on anybody, but I believe that we have been kind of asleep at the wheel about the trees for a while. I am just trying to catch up.”
He’ll have to slow down the efforts, though.
The Oxford Board of Selectmen, shocked by the pace at which Dempsey used his entire budget, decided not to give him all the money he asked for.
Instead, the board approved a $6,000 transfer to the tree warden budget.
“We do as much as the town budget allows us to do,” First Selectwoman Mary Drayton-Rogers said. “I have a worry that if we open this up for a transfer, we are hitting our contingency fund very early in the year, for the full amount.”
The town’s budget year starts on July 1.
The money was used to hire contractors to remove the damaged trees, Dempsey said.
He said he didn’t plan to go over budget again.
“The $32,000 will work quite nicely, once we are caught up.” Dempsey said. “I know we can’t get them all, but I would like to get some more if we can.”
Drayton-Rogers commended Dempsey for being aware of the problems at hand in Oxford, but said the town cannot spend beyond its means.
“We live in a heavily treed town. We are going to see [damaged trees],” Drayton-Rogers said. “But we have an obligation to live within our budget and to do what the townspeople allow us to do, always recognizing that there can be emergencies that come up.”
Drayton-Rogers reiterated that there was no blame being put on Dempsey for the oversight.
“I wish we knew during the budget process better than we know know. [Dempsey] was new in the process as well. It was all understandable,” she said. “There is no blame, no finger pointing.”
Dempsey is also the head of the Oxford Public Works Department, which handles removal of trees that fall down during the year. The tree warden’s budget is not affected by the Public Works Department and the two offices do not involve the same tree work.
New Trees Coming
Despite losing 74 trees since July, the town will plant several new trees in town using a federal grant.
The America The Beautiful grant of $7,600 will be used to plant 20 sugar maple trees at Agnes Tetlak Park, on Bowers Hill Road.
“We are starting to work on some improvements and develop the Tetlak Park area which will be again an excellent park to have,” Drayton-Rogers said.
Dempsey had some concerns about the lifespan of sugar maples in Oxford, but said he was otherwise happy with the plan.
“There is something affecting our sugar maples and our ash trees very rapidly,” Dempsey said. “They may have a shorter lifespan than we expect or hope for.”
The grant limited the type of tree that could be selected for planting.
“They are beautiful, they are very nice,” Dempsey said. “I just hope they live a nice, long, healthy life. We are getting them, so that is fantastic.”
The Youth Conservation Core, the Oxford High School football team and Oxford Public Works will take part in the planting of the trees.
