Tree Trimming Has Some Bath Residents Upset

Some Bath Township residents have complained about "less-than-appealing" tree trimming being done by First Energy, Township Administrator Vito Sinopoli said.

He said residents have voiced concerns over the way their trees look after pruning, with some even snapping photos to document the trimming, which takes place every four years.

But Sinopoli, who met with Dustin Parsons of Asplundh, the tree-trimming service, and Michael Young, forestry expert for First Energy, said he learned the pruning is not as "indiscriminate" as it seems.

Young said the top cause of power outages in Bath is tree limbs coming into contact with lines.

"We started our pruning program to reduce the number of outages to our customers and to keep people safe," Young said in a news release issued by the township.

In Bath, the highest-priority zone extends from the sub-station on Cleveland-Massillon Road and north to the township line at Everett. If an outage occurs there, it completely locks out the system to the sub-station and disrupts service to a broad area. 

Young said “only those trees which pose a problem for our lines are pruned or cleared. We try to be respectful of property owners and understand the frustration they feel in many cases.” 

He said the company trims only branches that directly affect a line, and trim from the conductor upward.

That means they trim from the neutral wire up past the primary wire.

Homeowners can also request that entire tree be removed, but only if the company receives written permission in advance.

Residents with questions about upcoming tree pruning can call Parsons  at 330-592-5212.