HOULTON, Maine — The cemetery superintendent updated town councilors recently about the status of a tree removal project at Evergreen Cemetery and addressed concerns raised by some residents about trees falling on grave markers.
Milton Cone said on Sept. 10 that an extensive effort to remove dead or diseased trees continues.
The superintendent said that there are 48 trees located on the burial grounds and ten of them had to be removed by a local contractor. Another 25 had to be trimmed and pruned.
He acknowledged that the project could have happened more quickly, but he held the contractor off at times due to wet weather, his vacation or a scheduled funeral.
Cone said that former Town Manager Bill MacDonald also passed on concerns to him that were expressed by some members of the community who were unhappy that fallen trees or limbs were not cleaned up at the end of each day. Cone said he had not heard any such complaints personally.
Some of the trees that were trimmed as part of a removal project at the Evergreen Cemetery in Houlton landed on grave markers. (Courtesy of Hal Britton)
Councilor Hal Britton referenced pictures taken by a cemetery visitor that reportedly show a broken headstone with tree branches on it. Britton said that he was especially concerned about branches laying on American flags marking the stones of veterans.
Cone said that he was not aware of where the headstone in the picture was located and that the stone may have been broken some time before.
Britton noted that road crews clean up after themselves at the end of the day and said when workers with the Houlton Water Co. cut down trees, they clear the debris before the end of the day as well.
“If they can do that, I feel the cemetery department can, too,’ the councilor said.
Cone said that working in the cemetery was a bit more difficult, because some of the trees are located between the stones.
“They can’t just drop whole trees, they have to work around them,” he said. “It is a lot of hand work.”
Cone said that three tree trunks remaining at the cemetery will be hauled away soon.
