BY JOLENE HART
Staff Writer
The area of Sayreville known as Green Valley may bloom with noticeably less greenery this spring.
"There is absolutely gorgeous landscaping here," said John Strauch, referring to the 20 to 30 trees he planted near his Fanwood Drive home 35 years ago. "When I bought this property, it was a desert."
But the trees alongside Strauch’s property, as well as many others, are destined to come down as Jersey Central Power & Light Co. moves forward with plans to remove threats to important power lines throughout the East.
"They’ve cut back the trees for many years," Strauch said. "If they trim the trees back, they won’t be in the way."
However, trimming is no longer an option around these high voltage lines, said Ron Morano, a representative of JCP&L.
In areas with the greatest risk, JCP&L plans to remove trees within 30 feet of power lines in an effort to avoid future outages, Morano said. The company is assessing obstructions to its major power lines in view of the massive outages that impacted the region last summer — thought to be aggravated by branches that knocked out high-voltage lines.
"This can seriously affect reliability of service," Morano said. "We understand residents’ concerns, but understanding the easement should make things more clear."
The power company has held an easement on the property around the lines for 50 years.
"I understand that they’ve got to do what they’ve got to do," Strauch said. "I was told that I shouldn’t have planted in the first place."
Strauch and his wife are the original owners of his home, but claims he was never told he couldn’t plant trees on the property.
"I knew about the easement and I knew I could never build on it, but there was nothing said about trees," he said.
Strauch and his neighbor, Anna Reddington, first received notice of JCP&L’s plans on March 12, when a letter announcing a public meeting on the tree removal was delivered to residents. In all, about 100 residents will be affected by the removal.
At the March 16 public meeting, Strauch said, residents were told their trees could be removed as early as the following day. Residents were told their trees would be cut, but the stumps would not be removed and no new plantings would be provided.
Strauch was shown a list of smaller trees that he could plant in place of his towering spruce and pine trees — at his own cost.
Inquiring about a compromise that would pay for the cost of stump removal or supplemental plantings, Strauch was told he would not be charged for the removal of his trees, and that was the benefit.
"They said, ‘We’re not charging you to take your trees down,’ " Strauch said. "Is this being neighborly? I pay taxes, I maintain the property."
Reddington was also told the stumps would be the residents’ liability, a concern for her as her trees are near the sidewalk.
"We will make every effort to cut the stumps flush with the ground, if possible," Morano said.
Even with no agreement in sight, Strauch is unwilling to sit back and let the removal happen without voicing his opposition. "I realize that stopping this is unlikely, but my voice is going to be heard," he said.
Business Administrator Jeff Bertrand said the borough remains hopeful to negotiate with JCP&L.
A claim that JCP&L’s parent company, FirstEnergy Corp., provided saplings to residents in Ohio where tree removal was completed in 2003 has raised questions.
But the Ohio tree removal project is an isolated case that does not apply to FirstEnergy Corp.’s general policy, Morano said.
Reddington and neighbors now regret that they did not take advantage of last week’s snow to snap some final pictures of the area.
The tree removal is expected to begin on Monday, Morano said.