A beech tree, at least 60 years old, will live to see at least a few more sunrises and sunsets in front of Newark's West Miller St. school.

A special school meeting was held yesterday in the district office conference room. Supt. of Schools Robert Christmann outlined the options available to affect needed changes in handicap access at the middle school. Mark Auclair, Project Manager for LeChase Construction, had said that the ability to offload steel for the building addition was not a major concern. Auclair said there were several alternatives to cutting the tree down, for the sole purpose of getting steel to the site. All board members seemed to agree that handicap access was the major reason for the tree removal. Christmann listed the options available for the board to consider.

Options: Take no action. This would mean that the plan to remove the tree to build a road to the NE corner of the school would proceed. Move handicap access to the NW corner. This would doom the large elm in that area. Locate handicap access at SW entrance. Room for cars to turn around would be limited. Keep the handicap at the current custodial entrance. Dr. Louis Jasper says this is not a proper handicap access, as it forces users to hunt for the entrance and may be discriminatory. A zigzag around the beech tree. Jasper believes the tree will not live for much more than another five years and because it has a double trunk, it is a possible danger.

Board member David Honness suggested that the matter be tabled for further investigation until the July 19 board meeting. While there was no public comment, there was an exchange between Ralph Marcano and Board President John Strait, when Marcano was asked by Christmann to remove the Save Our Tree sign that Marcano had attached to the tree. The sign asked people to call Christmann. The sign is no longer on the tree.

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