WARSAW — At a brief Oakwood Cemetery meeting held Thursday, Oct. 5, Sexton Hal Heagy informed board members that cemetery staff is making preparations for fall.

Heagy recently purchased a Buffalo Turbine debris and leaf blower. According to Heagy, the turbine will blow five times the amount of leaves and debris than the smaller blowers they currently use.

“This one is a nice size and can be pulled behind the Gator,” Heagy noted.

Regarding cemetery road work, Heagy stated, “I would say we’re well over two thirds done. Basically what we have left now is the old section.”

Heagy explained that by using a microfiber material for some of the road work, the cemetery has been able to cut down on costs.

“I can do five times as much with that as I can with asphalt,” said Heagy, “That’s what saved us money. We did bring in 14-20 tons of asphalt as well.”

The condition of trees on cemetery property was another topic of discussion. Some of the trees have died. Heagy plans to have an arborist come to the cemetery to assess the condition of the trees.

“We’re losing Red Maples,” Heagy stated.

Heagy said age was the issue with some of the trees, while others appear to have mold. He reported a recent incident where a large limb fell from one of the trees, narrowly missing a headstone, and going three feet into the ground.

“The limb was the size of a small tree,” Heagy said, as he expressed concern that it could have caused serious injury to one of his employees or damaged a headstone.

“I have to protect these guys,” Heagy stated, “I’m seeing some things in the old section of the cemetery that need to be addressed.” Heagy said he is taking steps to rectify this. He advised he intends to have someone come in to inspect trees in the older section of the cemetery to assess whether trimming needs to be done.

In other news:

• The next regular meeting will be at 5 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2.
• Sept. meeting minutes were approved.