County panel to weigh cutting down trees

HOULTON – Aroostook County commissioners will be going out on a limb tonight when they discuss the best way to deal with a tree dilemma.

County Administrator Doug Beaulieu said Tuesday that commissioners will be weighing the possibility of cutting down a handful of diseased trees that were planted decades ago behind the Aroostook County Jail.

Panelists will be seeking input from the public about the proposal.

“There are four of five of them out there that are diseased and just not healthy,” he said. “We are afraid that they are going to break and fall down during high wind situations. We’ve got to do something about it.”

The administrator is aware that the issue has come up in the past. He recalled hearing that the public did not welcome the thought of cutting the standing timbers.

Commissioner Paul Adams also alluded to the response in April, saying that officials wanted to remove the trees five years ago. The panel “stirred up a real hornet’s nest” when they mentioned the idea to the public, he said, so the trees were left alone.

As more time has passed, however, concern has grown among county personnel. Attempts have been made to solidify the trees and their limbs, according to the administrator, but to no avail.

Beaulieu estimated that it would be inexpensive to remove the trees, adding that the money would come out of the county’s contingency fund.

The group already has discussed the possibility of putting down new roots, according to Beaulieu.

“We are contemplating putting elm trees up,” he said Tuesday, adding that the move would correspond well with an ongoing project in Houlton. An effort is under way to plant 200 trees to celebrate the town’s 200th anniversary in 2007.

The administrator acknowledged that the issue needed to be addressed quickly.

“If we don’t cut them down, they are going to fall down,” he said, “and there is a power line in that area. This is a preventative step on our part to assure the safety of our residents.”