Boulder County neighbors stumped after Xcel Energy chops down trees

A group of neighbors in unincorporated Boulder County allege that Xcel Energy has wrongfully and rudely chopped down their trees, but the company says it was all in the name of precaution.

On Friday morning, Steve Iaconis, who lives in the 7500 block of Panorama Drive, on a hill that overlooks Boulder and sits just east of the city's southern border, returned from the grocery store to find an Xcel-contracted tree removal service hacking away at a branch of a tree that sits on the edge of his property, roughly 30 feet from a giant transmission line that runs through the neighborhood.

Iaconis moved into the home 18 months ago and said he has taken care of every bit of vegetation that could be considered in the way of Xcel's easement, which, by law, the company can maintain how it sees fit.

"And still, on a quarterly basis, they come out, come up to my door, take notes, ask whether they can come and clear the property further," he said. "There's nothing left here, and yet they still come back.

"So, when I came home from the grocery store at 8:15 this morning, I've got three trucks pulled up in front, a guy on a lift cutting my tree," Iaconis said. "The fact that they're still coming back, it's flat-out harassment at this point, when they've come enough times to get an answer of 'no', and they've already been allowed to cut. Enough is enough, already."

His next-door neighbors are equally vexed. Jon Hinebauch, who lives on the other side of the transmission line, a stone's throw from Iaconis, also had a rude awakening Friday. A pine tree he and his wife planted 40 years ago, shortly after moving into the home, was chopped down entirely.

Hinebauch's gripe revolves less, however, around the loss of a beloved bit of flora. He claimed that he and company representatives have spoken regularly over the years and that he has been assured several times that the pine, which was about 35 feet from any power line, was not an issue. He and his wife even paid an arborist hundreds of dollars to trim the top of the tree, just in case.

On Thursday, an employee of Brighton's Wright Tree Service showed up on Xcel's behalf and told Hinebauch the pine would have to be cut down. Hinebauch protested, and the deed was delayed until Friday morning, when Xcel vegetation management supervisor Nick Fox drove out to the property to further explain.

"After my wife and I talked with them for 45 minutes," Hinebauch said, "telling them everything we've done to mitigate the growth of the tree, they come back with a team of seven or eight people, and they cut down the tree. I felt totally violated. My wife was in tears.

"We've done everything they've asked us to do. I think it's bad PR on their part to alienate people who've been their customers for 40-some years, and they to be so heavy-handed."

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Boulder County neighbors stumped after Xcel Energy chops down trees