Brandon Twp.-Trees for everybody.
Everybody in the township that applied for one, anyway.
Township officials approved in March the purchase of 143 sunset red maple trees to be given away in a lottery for township residents who applied for the tree.
The deadline to apply was Aug. 14 and the township received 165 valid applications, 22 more than the number of trees offered, but thanks to the generosity of Wojo’s Greenhouse, no one will be left out.
‘Wojo’s graciously agreed to donate the extra trees,? said Township Supervisor Kathy Thurman. ‘Everyone who wanted a tree gets one.?
At $70 per tree, the Wojo’s donation tops $1,500. The original purchase of 143 trees, at a cost of $10,000, was made possible from a settlement with Enbridge Energy. The company agreed to the settlement after violating a woodlands ordinance with the township during replacement of the Line 6B petroleum pipeline that runs through the community. The free maples were in addition to Enbridge replacing trees on properties affected by the pipeline and were available to all township residents, regardless of whether the pipeline affected their property.
Residents who applied for a free red maple can now expect to receive a voucher in the mail which they can use to pick up their free tree at Wojo’s Greenhouse, 2570 Oakwood Road, between Sept. 1-15.