Highland Beach: Artificial tree gets budget nod

By Rich Pollack
Highland Beach is planning to have a Christmas tree in front of town hall this year that won’t rapidly deteriorate and become a fire hazard.
Commissioners last month approved a plan to spend up to $5,500 for a commercial-grade, 14-foot artificial fir tree that comes complete with multicolored LED lights as well as decorations.
The tree, built for commercial outdoor use and thus more expensive than indoor residential Christmas trees, is needed, commissioners say, because the heat, salt air and other elements take their toll on a real tree.
Last year’s live tree, put up just a few days before the town’s Light Up the Holidays celebration on Dec. 10, barely made it to Dec. 25
“The day after Christmas, we had to take it down because it had become a fire hazard,” Commissioner Lou Stern said.
The new tree is expected to last as long as 20 years.
With the first night of Hanukkah falling on Nov. 28, the same day as Thanksgiving this year, the town is moving its Light Up the Holidays festivities to Monday, Dec. 2, to include the lighting of a menorah candle. Because of holiday schedules, the tree will need to be put up on Nov. 27.
Recognizing that it would be unlikely for a real tree to last almost a month outdoors in South Florida, the town began exploring the purchase of a commercial-grade tree.
“The timing just caused us to take another look at an issue we have every year,” Town Man-ager Kathleen Weiser said.

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