Residents may have noticed multiple large trees were cut down at the far south end of the Town Beach near the parking lot. DPW Director Brian Wheeler explained on Monday that the trees were cut down because they posed a potential imminent safety risk. The decision was made to remove them and plant new trees after they were fully inspected for structural integrity.

“Those trees were cracked all the way through the middle and hollow,” Wheeler said. “They were starting to drop branches. We’re putting in new memorial benches there, so we didn’t want to have a tree that is already falling apart with a brand new bench underneath it. It’s just not a risk we were willing to take.”

Wheeler said that the protocol for removing trees such as the ones taken down at the town beach is to have them inspected by both DPW personnel and the town tree warden.

“When we find a tree that we think is unhealthy, we’ll call the tree warden, he’ll give us his expert opinion and then we’ll go from there,” he said. “It’s no one person making a decision, it’s a group of people.”