Remember municipal elections are scheduled for Tuesday, November 5th. We hope everyone will take this opportunity to get out and vote. Many positions critical to the town such as Board of Education, Planning and Zoning, plus our local District 5 Representative Town Meeting were in play. Plus, many more. We count on all of these critical town elected officials to preserve and protect the quality of life in the Greens Farms area.
Save These Trees!!
Not one, not two, but ALL these trees lining the Post Road in front of Stop and Shop are headed for the chipper. Surprised? So was the Board of Directors of the Greens Farms Association after listening to Dick Stein a member of the Tree Board present at our September monthly meeting. He shared large scale aerial drawings of the Connecticut Department of Transportation safety improvements for the Post Road, but the shocker was his commentary and insight exposing the details of tree removal not covered by state officials. Dick shared that the proposed safety improvements and addition of a sidewalk require taking away some of the grass strip and relocation the utility poles closer to the Stop and Shop parking lot. The utility poles would then be too close to the trees so they would have to be removed.
There are 12 Sycamores and 1 Elm tree that would be affected. Looking more closely at the State presentation, 12 trees would be cut down and the one remaining on the west end of the parking lot might be saved. Dick believed that these trees were planted as part of the “Greening of the Post Road” which began in 1972, making the trees approximately fifty years old. The trees are 70 to 90 feet tall. There could also be tree loss across the street on the Bulkley Avenue portion of the project.
Aside from the obvious environmental advantages, these trees also provide an aesthetic benefit of scale, softening of the area, and noise reduction. Our October board meeting, thanks to RTM District 5 member Karen Kramer was heavily attended by state and local town officials to hear out our concerns. We hope that this level of concern and involvement will result in a revised plan that protects these trees and still enhances safety along this stretch of the Post Road.