Dead Trees to be Removed from Middleburgh Cemetery

MIDDLEBURGH - There are too many dead trees in the Middleburgh Cemetery and they need to be removed.

Middleburgh village board members last week agreed to spend $6,500 to remove two large dead spruce trees.

Trustee Bob Tinker, who is the village's cemetery commissioner, said not many tree removal vendors can operate in a cemetery because of the close quarters with the gravestones, trees, and uneven ground. The village uses Pridemark of Schoharie to remove the trees.

The removal of the two giant spruces will not be easy, he noted.

There are too many trees in the cemetery, Trustee Tinker said. Planting the trees may have seemed like a good idea in the 1800s, but now they are much too large and many have died.

The village budgeted $4,000 for 2026 for tree removal in the cemetery, The village, which owns the cemetery, has $14,290.13 available in the perpetual care fund and $13,000 in the Judge Walter Bliss fund for cemetery care.

The tree removal will be done when the ground firms up.

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In other action, board members:

* Went into executive session to discuss real estate for a property issue.

* Heard Clerk Rebecca Kelley says that photos and information are being accumulated to assemble a cemetery website.

* Accepted the donation of an unused cremation niche from Amy Juried, the daughter of Nick Juried. She also donated the $400 that was paid by Mr. Juried for the niche.

* Heard that the cremation niche wall, which was built in the early 2000s, is nearly full. Trustee Tinker said the village has to discuss a new niche wall. He was named to an oversight committee on the possibility of a new wall.

* Heard that the village crew built the solar benches for Badgley Park and they will install them before the beginning of May. The village had gotten a grant for the benches.

* Heard that the "historic" light pole will be reinstalled at the corner of Main and River streets. The village is waiting for contractor availability.

* Heard that the benches have been installed on Main Street and the garbage cans will soon follow.

* Heard that brush and leaf pickup has resumed on Monday and Friday mornings.

* Heard that the village crew cleaned up the debris from the Railroad Avenue tree removal project in preparation for new sidewalks.

* Heard that potholes were filled throughout the village.

* Heard that hydrants will be flushed, tentatively from May 4 to 8.