Sick MCS Tree to Come Down

By David Avitabile

MIDDLEBURGH - A sick tree on the Middleburgh high school lawn is scheduled to be taken down Saturday, weather permitting.

MCS business manager Robyn Bhend told board members at their February 14 meeting on the tree removal quotes. The district is going with a quote of $2,425. to remove one tree in poor health from the front lawn of the high school.

Superintendent Mark Place first spoke about the tree removal last fall.

Superintendent Place said that several vendors have looked at the tree and the district are waiting for quotes. Board members said they are "on board" with taking down the tree at their December meeting once the requisite quotes have been received.

Once the tree is taken down, the condition of the remaining trees will be "taken into account" and discussed and the required cabling and pruning will be done to extend the life of those trees, Mr. Place said.

In November, Mr. Place told school board members that a tree assessment was done by a professional firm for the district and that a large tree on the left side of the front lawn (closer to Clauverwie Road) needed to be removed. The tree has "some problems with the top branches."

Now that the board has given its approval, the district will share information widely with the community prior to any work being done, Mr. Place said.

The transparency of the proposed tree work is a far cry from the tree removal on the high school front lawn several years ago that resulted in numerous raucous meetings of angry district residents and a petition being circulated for the removal of then Superintendent Brian Dunn.

The trees were removed on an early Monday morning in July 2020. The tree removal was dubbed as the "Monday Morning Massacre" by some residents. Among the trees that were cut down were some planted in memory or in honor or students and school officials. Many residents attended a contentious meeting in the high school gym at which the district's attorney explained why the trees were taken down. A petition calling for Mr. Dunn's resignation was circulated on-line and gained many signatures. Some trees have been planted on the school lawn since, mostly right in front of the school.