Public hearing to address tree removal on scenic Fitchburg road

FITCHBURG -- A public hearing will be held Wednesday evening for residents to voice their opinions and concerns over Unitil's plan to remove and trim several trees along the scenic Mt. Elam Road.

The joint hearing with Tree Warden John Blanchard will be held during the Planning Board's regularly scheduled meeting at 6 p.m. at the municipal offices at Putnam Place, 166 Boulder Drive.

Principal Planner Michael O'Hara said the hearing is necessary due to Mt. Elam Road being a scenic road -- a title it has held since the 1970s -- and the fact that many of the trees Unitil wishes to remove are also categorized as public shade trees.

He said there are about 30 trees that Unitil wants to remove completely and about another 1,000 the utility wishes to trim branches from that could be hazardous because they are hanging over wires.

Unitil spokesman Alec O'Meara said the plans for tree removal and trimming are part of the utility's hazardous tree removal program, but many that are being sought for removal are not within the standard vegetation management trim zones the company does on a day-to-day basis. Many, he said, have signs of decay, fungus and other qualities that make them likely to fall down and potentially hit power lines.

"The goal for tree trimming is to make the system more reliable when we have weather events occur, like a big thunderstorm in the middle of summer, or a snowstorm that's going to drop a foot of snow in season," O'Meara said.

He said Unitil and its system arborist, Sara Sankowich, are working closely with homeowners to both appease their concerns and ensure system reliability. O'Meara said Sankowich is also working closely with Blanchard and she should be at the public hearing.

"I feel our system arborist is very good at explaining to folks the work we're doing is helping to keep folks' lights on," he said.

O'Hara said that Conservation Commission member Michael Donnelly, who lives on Mt. Elam Road, wants to have the trees that are taken down replaced. Donnelly has said previously that he is prepared to make a proposal on behalf of the Conservation Commission that may help to mitigate some of the tree removals.

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Public hearing to address tree removal on scenic Fitchburg road