Council Directs Village Manager to Tell AEP to Limit Tree Cutting

At its last meeting of the year Wednesday night, December 16, 2009, Council directed the Village Manager to inform AEP that the Village does not want AEP to cut Village trees any more aggressively than it did during the prior major cutting of 2003 and 2004. If AEP feels it needs cut certain trees more aggressively than in the past, the Village wants AEP to ask for permission for the more aggressive cutting.

The date that AEP will be cutting the Village trees, and how aggressively AEP plans to cut the trees, is an open issue. Earlier this week, AEP spokesperson Vikki Michalski told The Granville Press that AEP currently is working along the bike path and will not be cutting along Village streets until late Winter. This is consistent with what AEP told Village Service Director Terry Hopkins in August. But in September when the Village began to question AEP on its tree cutting practices during a September 16, 2009 Council meeting, AEP said there was no time to consider alternatives to aggressive cutting because AEP would be starting with the Village trees just a couple weeks later in October 2009.

As to the aggressiveness of the cutting this time around, AEP’s Vikki Michalski stated that it will be "an aggressive tree clearance." She said that "our goal is to clear the right of way" to ensure that no trees are touching the power lines. Yet, when asked to compare the 2003/2004 cut to what AEP planned to do this time, she said she does not know what was done in 2003/2004, so she could not comment.

Still, if AEP’s current "aggressive tree clearance" along the bike path is any indication of what is in store for the Village in the coming weeks, this round of tree cuts will be much more severe than before. For some areas along the bike path, from Wild Wood Park going west to the former 539a, AEP was clear cutting all trees that were anywhere near the power lines. This included many trees that had clearly survived the 2003/2004 cutting. When done, no trees were left standing, only bushes.

Ann Bonner, Urban Forester with the Ohio Department of Natural Resources, is concerned about damage caused by this type of clear cutting. "One problem with cutting all the trees, is the explosion of invasive species that will colonize and take over these sites," she said. She explained "often all they need is a little sunlight to really do some damage."