Fall is here. Soon, trees throughout town will blaze in a spectacular show of reds, oranges and yellows.
Naturally, an alert “06880” reader wants to cut some down.
She writes:
In recent storms, this is a not uncommon Westport sight.
We’ve all noticed trees around town that are destined to fall across roads at any moment. Their roots are totally exposed. They lean at 45-degree angles over the street. Dead branches dangle in the air everywhere.
In our heads, we place bets on when the tree will come down: the next rainstorm? The next snowstorm? The next sunny day?
The deaths on the Merritt Parkway recently, the school bus incident Monday and the lengthy power restoration after Irene prove that trees can be both deadly and ignored.
Can’t the town be more proactive? Isn’t there some sort of tree warden who should be on top of this? If we want to call in with reports of dangerous trees, whom do we contact? Is it a wasted effort?
Even fishermen should be wary: There’s a tree on the other side of the river from Clinton Avenue (at the base of the killer hill there) that is hanging maybe 30 degrees above the water. Any day now…