By Sam Elliott
Each spring, Fishers’ Billericay Park and Heritage Park benefit from one last gift left over from the holiday season.
New mulch put in at the pair of parks comes from recycled Christmas trees the city collected throughout January. Drop-off sites at Brooks School Park, Cumberland Park and Roy G. Holland Memorial Park received nearly 3,000 trees.
“We collect the trees and we chip them up and turn them into mulch for our parks,” Fishers Parks & Recreation Director Tony Elliott said. “Last year we chipped up almost 3,000 trees and that created about 500 yards of mulch, which is about 50 dump truck loads of mulch. We use that mulch in Billericay Park and Heritage Park. It’s a good way for us to recycle the trees, turn them into mulch and save cost by using that mulch in a couple of our parks.”
Sambol’s Tree Farm in Fortville has partnered with the city to sponsor the program, which saves Fishes thousands of dollars each year.
“The savings for the City of Fishers is approximately an annual savings of about $9,000,” Elliott said. “If you’re looking at the retail price for mulch, that savings would be about $12,000 to $14,000.
“The goal you hear the mayor talking about a lot is for Fishers to be a smart, vibrant and entrepreneurial community and I think the tree recycling thing is definitely a way for us to be smart about how we essentially utilize waste and use it for our benefit,” he added.
