Legalectric

As ALJ Kathleen Sheehy said, “Oh, ENOUGH about the TREES!”

But soon, we’re losing another boulevard tree, this one a red maple, not too old, but it’s about 35 feet high.  ANOTHER ONE~  Last spring, we lost a large one in the May blizzard, and now, any day now, this one is coming down.  What’s adding insult to injury is that they’re taking it down FOR A TEMPORARY REROUTE OF THE XCEL DISTRIBUTION LINE ACROSS THE STREET!

They must have looked on a map, with input from Xcel found our house, and picked it.  They’re redoing West Avenue, replacing the VERY tall retaining wall across the street (20 feet??), narrowing the street to slow traffic, and putting in a sidewalk across the street so kids can walk to school.  We’ve been dealing with the City about this for a while, went to a meeting, checked the city’s packet on it, talked to them there, and had a conference or two in the yard this week.   And as Alan says, giving them full credit, “they’ve been responsive.”  Yeah, but they’re still taking our tree down.  And taking another one down when they redo the other street.  And they still haven’t replaced the one we lost last year in the blizzard, or the large one that came out some time before we bought the house. Four out of four…

When I spoke with the City and Xcel guys checking it out, I objected, I don’t want to lose this tree, and suggested undergrounding since they’re digging up the street, and they said this street wouldn’t work for that (oh, please…), and I again said I didn’t want to lose that tree, particularly for a TEMPORARY XCEL DISTRIBUTION REROUTE.  The Xcel whippersnapper looks down his snout and says, “You like power, don’t you.”  Folks, y’all would have been proud… I did not bring Kady out to address his attitude (the City guy sorta snorted at his comment, and the Xcel guy had clearly not encountered moi previously).

This tree is more than just a tree, it’s a safety infrastructure installation:

Our tree has been hit a few times, it’s at a curve near the crest of the hill, and people often race up the hill.   As you can see from the map, that tree keeps the cars out of our yard and out of Mary’s porch.  We need that tree!!!  SCREEEECH, CRASH… doesn’t happen often?  Well, just last year, someone coming the other way crested the hill too fast and on the way down didn’t make the turn, and they careened into the house on the other side of the street and took out their front steps!

And look:

And they’re starting in on it, the big “Utility Work Ahead” signs are out on West, and they’re climbing the pole across the street.  See that big honkin’ sucker there?  That one is coming out when they redo Sturdevant, which they said, “could be next year, could be a few years,” but that will mean we have NO trees left.

I can hear air tools all the way on the other side…

AAAAAAAAAAAAGH!  My tree…