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More on trees
SARATOGA SPRINGS — There was a clamor when National Grid contractors showed up to prune trees along Union Ave.
The work, done to keep the trees away from the power lines, left the trees along the avenue looking rather close-cropped. After hearing concerns from several local residents Mayor Johnson met with representatives from National Grid on Wednesday.
Following the meeting, Johnson said he’d seen documents that led him to believe the work, while seemingly excessive, was conducted to national standards.
“There is a visual impact, but work was conducted within established limits,” he said, adding that the impact is “more jarring now because there are no leaves.”
When he met with National Grid, Johnson said he discussed with them special considerations within the city’s historic district, and said that the utility company was sympathetic to the city’s concerns of the visual impact. In the future, he said, the company will cut the trees back less, but will conduct the work more frequently.
While Johnson pointed out that he has little knowledge of tree care, he said that trimming the trees is necessary to protect the utility wires.
posted by The Saratogian City Desk at
8:54 PM
2 Comments:
Poor trees in Saratoga don't stand a chance to grow with National Grid, Time Warner, and the citys own DPW constantly pruning them. Perhaps the DPW trimmers could be redeployed and save taxpayers some money.
The City owns those trees and the taxpayers maintain the land in those right-of-ways. If National Grid wants to follow its own regulations for keeping the primary wires clear to six feet from tree branches, that's one thing, but by going to taller 45-foot poles, NG was able to move their primaries higher allowing for greater understory. There is no regulation to clear the lower portions of the street regardless of phone and cable. We might as well prohibit street trees or devalue those properties with power poles out front.
These so-called aborists have destroyed and put at risk many of the trees they have butchered instead of pruning. Drive out route 29 east and see the destruction of trees as far away as 20 feet from the poles. This is not about National Standards; this is about a flagrant abuse of regulation interpretation by people who know better – or should have been trained. These so-called out sourced professionals should be prohibited from working on “city trees”!
Citing OSHA standards now for justifying working around cable TV lines is pathetic. Learn how to use a lift or a bucket or get out of the business.
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