This Monroe County neighborhood's residents want more communication about tree removal

Through panicked phone calls and doorstop drop-ins, a dozen residents on West Gordon Pike encouraged one another to go into their front lawns and carefully check the bases and branches of their trees. Sure enough, some, including a crimson maple and an aging magnolia, had been marred, either with fresh paint splatter or ribbons tied around lower limbs.

For many, these markings felt like they appeared overnight — without any explanation. In what has been characterized by county highway director Lisa Ridge as an oversight, residents near the Fullerton Pike construction were not given notice that some of their trees were set to be removed or trimmed.

Thanks to an observant neighbor and a call placed to county officials, Claire Quimby found out on Friday, Nov. 18, that a tree in her front lawn was among those marked for cutting — just three days before it was scheduled to happen.

"It is kind of disturbing that if we hadn't all jumped into action on a Friday, it would have just been a done deal and we would have just had to deal with it," Quimby said.

Like many of his neighbors, including Quimby, John Letner had planned to be out of town the week of Thanksgiving.

"We would have come home to find a neighborhood where everybody's trees were chopped down,” Letner said.

After speaking with several residents, the tree removal and trimming has been postponed, Ridge said. While these trees are in the county's right of way, Ridge agreed impacted residents should have been notified ahead of time.

"We weren't trying to hide anything from the property owners," Ridge said. "It was just an oversight on the department.”

In a neighborhood full of developments, residents want more communication from county

West Gordon Pike has undergone some pretty major changes since property owners like Letner moved in 35 years ago. The area was historically rural, paired with thickets of trees and broad fields, but new developments, such as Fullerton Pike Project and the Monroe County Public Library's new branch, have fueled a lot more construction and traffic.

More:When will the Monroe County library's new southwest branch open?

In process for several years now, the Fullerton Pike Project intends to connect and improve West Gordon Pike —variously called West Fullerton Pike or East Rhorer Road — from a new I-69 interchange to Sare Road.

As part of its third phase, highway personnel are scheduled to build a road and bridge to connect Rockport Road with South Rogers Street. But due to that construction, some utilities, such as power or sewer lines, have to be relocated on West Gordon Pike. As Ridge explained, this is why some trees must be cut down or trimmed — even some that are well away from the road and in property owners' front lawns. Between Clearview Drive and Rogers Street on West Gordon Pike, four trees are slated to be removed and three are to be trimmed.

One of those is Quimby's maple tree, which has been part of her landscape since she first moved in about five years ago. It's tall and sturdy, she describes, with a striking red bloom in autumn.

“(The tree is) like one of the only things blocking us from what's going to be a pretty major road, so I was pretty upset — and mostly just because nobody had spoken to us. It just felt like out of the blue, with no warning," Quimby said. "I know that the developments are coming — the road is going to be extended to 69, we've been to the meetings about the library — and we've sort of made peace with the changes. But this one was just a real sudden shock."

County highway director apologizes, will work with residents on tree re-evaluation

Once she discovered her tree was marked, Quimby called the county highway department. Tree trimming and removal has been a known step within this project, with the bulk of it being in rural, non-residential areas, Ridge said.

"It's really the first project we had to have the tree removal in this section of an urban area, so it was an oversight on the department," Ridge said.

Typically, any time a property owner will be impacted by road or construction work, they are notified well in advance, Ridge said.

"I agree 100% that those property owners should have been notified. I've discussed this with the staff in our department," Ridge said.

Ridge said she was surprised when property owners along West Gordon Pike began calling and asking questions. Up until then, the contractor the highway department was working with for tree removal had said they would alert impacted residents.

"Moving forward, we want to make sure we get proper notification out. I think we depended on the contractor and I think we should have done that in-house just as an extra step for us," Ridge said. "And then we'd work with the property owner. We don't want them to feel (left out) from something that we're doing. We want them to understand that we want to work with them."

Since fielding those initial calls, Ridge said highway personnel have began setting up meetings with property owners to talk over what can be done to save their trees. Ridge has also sent the specific tree clearing plan to any resident who requested it. Along with many of her neighbors, Quimby noted she has a meeting with highway personnel to talk about her tree, which she counts as a step in the right direction.

"It's very encouraging," Quimby said.

The county has also instructed the contractor to not remove any trees that are on the construction limits, which is the case for many of these. Instead of starting at the residential side, the contractor is beginning to clear trees on the other side where no property owners are impacted.

The marked trees will be re-evaluated with the county making a later determination on their potential removal.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Monroe County residents stall tree removal on West Gordon Pike