Re: [Phys-l] Glaze Ice

[Brian Whatcott <betwys1@sbcglobal.net>]

I haven't looked at the deeds, but it seems to me that easements or 
rights of way are intended for the communal benefit of householders and 
several utility services - power, water, garbage collection, and ought 
to be overseen by city ordinance.

I propose to place the matter before the council for better enforcement 
activity,  if that turns out to be the appropriate avenue.
(As to clearing down limbs:  a chain saw, a sports utility and a tow strap
make quick work of placing limbs adjacent to the road - NOT alley -  as 
requested by the City.

Brian W

Edmiston, Mike wrote:
> Same thing happened here in January 2005.  I was lucky; my power was out for 1 day.  My sister, 15 miles away, was without power for 3 weeks.
>
> Although some lines collapsed under the weight of the ice on the lines, the majority of downed lines were taken down by tree branches falling on them.  The problem Brian mentioned with people letting their yards encroach on power-line right-of-ways was rampant in this area.  Not only did that hinder repair trucks getting in to fix the lines, it caused much of the problem in the first place because people had planted trees in the right-of-way or next to the right-of-way.  Many, many power lines would not have been taken down if there hadn't been trees to close to them.
>
> Interestingly, here we are 5 years later, and we are just now starting to get the problem fixed.  The power company (American Electric Power) took quite a bit of heat over that problem in addition to other smaller outages over the years.  People complained to the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) about the outages and the length of time to repair them, but American Electric Power (AEP) turned around and complained that much of the problem was caused by the public planting trees too close to the lines, and encroaching on right-of-ways.  PUCO told AEP to fix the problem, so in 2009 they began a massive tree-trimming campaign in northwestern Ohio.  Many residents were angry because when they came through to "fix the problem" they pretty much butchered the trees.  Some people also had yard damage from the trucks getting in to cut the trees down.  Many residents claimed AEP was "getting back at them" for complaining to PUCO about power outages.  So it has been somewhat of
>   an ugly situation here... 5 years after the original major storm.
>
> I have mixed feelings because both sides of the battle are partly right.  People did encroach on the right- of-ways and they did plant trees too close.  On the other hand, for years AEP let them get away with it, and for years AEP did not do "maintenance" trimming of trees and enforcement of adequate right of ways.
>
> Back to 2005... the power got back on for most people after about 3 weeks, but the general mess continued into the summer.  There was a huge amount of downed wood (branches and whole trees) that had to be dealt with.  Brian... I hope you get power soon, but even after power is restored there is still a mess to clean up that could take months.  And... you may have to go through a tree-purging and right-of-way enforcement like we did, and that might take years.
>
>
> Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
> Professor of Chemistry and Physics
> Bluffton University
> Bluffton, OH 45817
> (419)-358-3270
> edmiston@bluffton.edu
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