Tree-trimming program tested in Greenfield Hill, Mill Plain areas

Two sections of Fairfield have been selected for a pilot program in the state's mandated "enhanced" tree-trimming program.

The pilot program in the Greenfield Hill and Mill Plain areas of town, which will be carried out by the United Illuminating Co., is designed to help "the public to better understand how this program will be implemented in Fairfield and how it will affect the town," First Selectman Michael Tetreau announced.

The local sites were selected from among those with a history of a higher-than-normal power outages caused by trees, including areas that have emergency evacuation sites and medical facilities, Tetreau said.

The program, he said, has been "carefully evaluated" by Ken Placko, the town's recently retired tree warden, the town's Forestry Committee, and UI's certified arborist and manager of vegetation management.

The tree-trimming program in Greenfield Hill is concentrated on Congress Street just east of Burr Street to Hillside Road, and on Burr Street from Congress going north to Aran Hill Road.

In the Mill Plain area, the program is on Unquowa Road, from the train station parking lot to Mill Hollow Park, and on Mill Plain Road from Interstate 95 to Glover Street.

The project was approved by the state Public Utility Regulatory Authority as a way to address the increased frequency and severity of storms -- and subsequent power outages -- in the last several years.

UI's goal, according to the news release on the program, is to establish a "Utility Protection Zone," defined by the area extending horizontally 8 feet to the side of electrical conductors.

Major points include:

UI has selected and marked trees for removal on both private and public properties with a red tag in the pilot areas.

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Tree-trimming program tested in Greenfield Hill, Mill Plain areas