AUBURN — Curbside Christmas tree collections were another victim of the city’s budget ax this year.

Auburn residents can take their Christmas trees to three locations around the city to dispose of them, but the city will not collect the trees with trash.

City Manager Glenn Aho said curbside tree collections cost about as much as a week’s worth of recycling collections.

“We have reduced our Public Works staff size by five this year, and that’s led to a number of things,” Aho said. “One is reduced snow plowing, but this is another.”

In past years, the city brought a chipper and a truck to collect Christmas trees. Trees would be chipped curbside.

“That’s such an inefficient way to work,” Aho said. “It’s certainly not the most efficient use of the city’s resources. We really do try to meet everyone’s needs, but we don’t have the equipment to do this job efficiently.”

Under the current program, residents can bring their old trees, with all ornaments, tinsel and lights removed, to one of three locations: the Mid-Maine Waste Action Corp. facility at 1 Goldthwaite Road; the Auburn Fire Station for Engine 2 in New Auburn at 181 South Main St.; or the sand shed on Gracelawn Road behind the Public Works Garage.

“One of our goals as a city is to reduce spending, and this is one way to do that,” Aho said. “We’re asking our residents to just give us a hand.”

staylor@sunjournal.com

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