Another example of government waste:

I some of you know, I work in local government. After Hurricane Sandy FEMA is paying for our water and sewer easements to be cleared of fallen tress so we can have access to our sites. I have had a local tree guy so far charge $10K to cut up the trees. FEMA says I can take the cut trees for firewood, my boss says we can't because it won't look right in the eyes of the public. So now the wood will all get chipped up or taken to the tree cutters yard and cut up for wood. So it's better to go to waste than let someone have it. Hell, I won't object if the people nearby could take it.

Depends what they do with the chips.
In Midland, MI they have a co-generation plant that burns waste wood to fire the boilers to make electricity. Old pallets, construction material, trees etc are chipped and burned. So if that was the use then I wouldn't consider it waste exactly.

They put the chips in a recycle center which the townspeople can come and get mulch, top soil, etc for free. The trees our contractors take away must be brought to a landfill and buried. I have to have the receipt before I can okay their payment.

TheQuig wrote:

They put the chips in a recycle center which the townspeople can come and get mulch, top soil, etc for free. The trees our contractors take away must be brought to a landfill and buried. I have to have the receipt before I can okay their payment.

Wow that's wasteful

Give the contractor a call and see if he can take a few trees to his yard whole or chopped, then go pick it up there on your own time. No one from the job needs to know.

TheQuig wrote:

The trees our contractors take away must be brought to a landfill and buried.

IMO that practice should be brought to the medias attention and shame upper mgmt into changing that policy.
Land fill space is limited and expensive and shouldn't be filled with trees.

It's just crazy. Any where else in town where the township is clearing, they bring the wood to the recycle center so people can take it. Although we are township, We have our own Executive Director and group of Commissioners. All political.

Politics ruin all good ideas.