BY TARA PETERSEN
Staff Writer
TARA PETERSEN One of the stumps (foreground) left after 18 young trees were cut down by a JCP&L contractor at Wagner Farm Park in Millstone. Some of the 200 trees the township was in the midst of planting sit nearby. MILLSTONE — An error in communication led to the demise of 18 healthy trees, according to officials.
Business Administrator Jim Pickering said Monday that Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is being held accountable for chopping down 18 red maple trees last week that were planted two years ago at Wagner Farm Park.
The trees were below power lines, Pickering said, and JCP&L has a policy to remove trees that might grow tall enough to hit the lines.
It will cost $5,900 to replace the trees, including removing the old stumps, filling in the holes and seeding for grass, according to Pickering. The new trees will be planted away from the lines.
JCP&L officials said that its contractor, Ohio-based Nelson Tree Service, is responsible for removing the trees, and that JCP&L will make sure the municipality is promptly reimbursed.
However, Pickering said that the company should have given Millstone Township notice, and that the trees would have been moved elsewhere in the park.
“A simple courtesy phone call could have stopped them from paying $5,900,” Pickering said. “[The trees] were still balled and could have been moved.”
Mayor Nancy Grbelja agreed that the township could have easily moved the trees if it had been notified.
“It’s totally reckless and really shows a lack of concern for the environment,” she said.
JCP&L area manager Gerald Ricciardi said the company was “very upset” that this happened, and that it is still investigating the incident to see what went wrong.
“What should have happened was the contractor should have notified the municipality that these trees were planted in the wrong spot, and [should have] given them the opportunity to replant those trees,” Ricciardi said.
“This is not the way JCP&L does business,” he added.
Ricciardi said that JCP&L has a list of “compatible species” that are allowed to be planted under power lines because they do not grow high enough to come in contact with the lines.
However, he said, the red maple is not compatible.
Pickering said he believed JCP&L approved the trees two years ago.
Ricciardi said Nelson Tree Service is contracted by JCP&L to clear or trim trees that are thought to be a problem. It is standard procedure, however, to notify the appropriate municipality, or resident, if a tree is not in compliance, he said.
He also said there are federal standards for certain clearances “that need to be maintained for the safe and reliable transmission of electricity.”
Joe Proko, a supervisor for Nelson, said his company “takes full responsibility” for the incident.
“We made a mistake in communication,” he said. “We thought we had permission and didn’t.”
Proko said Nelson will ultimately reimburse the municipality for the expenses associated with replacing the trees.
He added that the company is looking into the matter and is currently working to improve communication.
The incident comes at a time when the municipality was in the process of planting more than 200 trees along the perimeters of the park to help increase privacy for park neighbors.
“We’re in the process of finishing an old punch list with Wagner Farm Park,” Pickering said.