Tree Removal Account Requires Additional Funds

FULTON, NY – It has been another busy year for tree work in the city of Fulton.This week, the Fulton Common Council was asked to make a contingent transfer to replenish the budget lines for tree removal. Since January, the tree removal needs in Fulton have deteriorated the $45,000 budget line for that expense to zero.

“We’ve had a lot of tree damage,” Fulton Mayor Ron Woodward said. “That budget is down.”

Woodward noted that the city replenishes the tree account almost every year. He pointed out that it is a difficult expense to predict, however.

“A lot of trees in the city are 100 years old,” he said.

During last week’s storm, Woodward said that a tree that was slated for work fell over in a resident’s yard, damaging a fence in both the front and back yards. While no one was injured, Woodward said the situation could have been worse.

“We had the tree people on standby,” he said. “By the time they got over there, the tree fell down.”

The council agreed to transfer $30,000 from the contingency account into the account for tree removal. Woodward stressed, however, that the money in that account has to carry the city through until January.

“I would ask the council to be careful,” he said. “This (money) needs to go into the winter months.”

Woodward asked the council to only issue orders for tree removal in emergency situations.

“Let the tree people look at it,” he said. “If it doesn’t need to come down, don’t take it down.”

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