Toledo Edison needs to restore trees

4/10/2013

Residents of South Toledo have seen their quality of life dimmed by the removal of trees by Toledo Edison, destroying not only the integrity of the environment but also its natural beauty (“Edison to spend $11M on upgrades; About half will go to tree-trimming efforts, Toledo utility says,” March 21).

The lack of empathy illustrated by Toledo Edison regional president Randy Frame’s focus on cutting down more vegetation to prevent “tree-related outages” has created a catastrophe in a neighborhood that has suffered a loss of privacy and a blow to its property values.

Private contractors employed by the utility company dug a massive well to update power lines, destroying the sprinkler system at our house and the root system of mature pine trees that border Perrysburg-Holland Road near Swan Creek Bridge.

From the drought that followed, one local expert says that the mature Colorado spruce along the west side of the hill has contracted cytospora canker, a disease that kills trees a branch at a time.

Pictures my husband and I took show that the sprinkler system was fractured in multiple locations. The water lines supplying service to the sprinkler heads along the side and rear of the property were destroyed, leaving the line open and exposing wires.

It is understandable that Toledo Edison would take measures to prevent customers from experiencing power outages. However, consideration must be given to homeowners whose landscape and shared property values have been compromised because of the company’s poor planning and equally poor community relations.

Toledo Edison must restore privacy, or will taxpaying residents be ignored?

LANETA GOINGS

Knights Hill Lane

Editors note: Ms. Goings is a retired vice president of the Toledo Blade Foundation.