Tree Update Given at Freehold Borough Council Meeting

Freehold Borough’s beautiful landscape took a major hit in 2012 due to Mother Nature’s wrath.

While trees in the borough have become a concern, Councilman Ron Griffiths provided an update at the Monday, March 18 council meeting to tell residents where the Shade Tree Commission is with the process of removing trees.

“Following the recent storms a tree expert was retained by the borough to identify which trees needed to be removed or trimmed. A detailed report was issued and the trees were ranked and prioritized for work,” explained Griffiths. “The governing body received a lot of calls and requests for trees to be removed and some asking for trees to left.”

According to Griffiths, the correct process to removing trees requires contacting the Freehold Borough Administrator’s Office. From there, the work orders and information is transferred to the Shade Tree Commission and then they set up the work orders.

“Following the bid process and awarding of contract, we waited for work to begin because of the vast amount of work requiring services of a tree company. We waited until February to begin work and now work has started. The contractor has been around Mcdermott Street and Ford Ave recently,” said Griffiths.

The Shade Tree Commission update also explained that residents may see a tree trunk left after the initial trimming is done. Griffiths stated that the company will come back to the site to cut down the trunk and grind the stump. The two processess are considered different operations and have to be done in sequence.

As for the enormous amount of brush and branches that were at the borough yard, Griffiths reported that they have been processed into mulch.