Photo: J. Parker
“This is really about the emotion of losing a beautiful tree,” Scott Sainsbury explained in a special Moretown Select Board meeting that took place on Thursday, June 7.
The meeting was called to discuss a letter that Sainsbury and his wife, Pat Cox, submitted stating their intent to appeal the construction plans for a bridge off of Spillway Road (off Route 100B) that leads to their home and was destroyed after Tropical Storm Irene.
According to the proposed plans, the Sainsburys would lose an over-100-year-old willow tree on the edge of their property, and they hoped to amend the plan to account for this loss and include provisions for a replacement tree.
“We pay a lot in taxes, and we employ people on our farm,” Cox said, explaining that they give back to the town and thus expect the town to reciprocate.
Unfortunately for the Sainsburys, “it can’t be tit for tat,” select board chair Tom Martin said.
“If we start replacing everyone’s trees, it’s going to end up costing the town a lot of money,” said one of the five or so Moretown residents who came out to share their opinions on the matter, as taxpayers.
Besides, he said, “I went down to check out that property, and that big old willow tree is dying. Half of it is already dead.”
Tree or no tree, select board member Michelle Beard spoke up about the Sainsburys’ request in relation to a town that was heavily affected by the flood.
“My concern is that a lot of people have lost a lot of things,” Beard said, to which Scott Sainsbury nodded his head.
“After all the animosity we’ve heard in the room, I’d prefer if we just forget about it,” Sainsbury said. “We officially retract [our letter].”
While there was some talk at the meeting about giving up the road as a town road altogether, the board members agreed that disestablishment is “a very serious thing” that they would wish on no townsperson, including the Sainsburys, whose outdoor riding arena is a significant resource for both the town and the state.
Construction was set to begin on the bridge on June 1, but because of the Sainsburys’ intent to appeal it was pushed back one week. Currently, the town plans to pick up where it left off, trusting that the loss of one week will not hurt efforts to have the bridge completed by the non-negotiable end date of October 1.
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