PECO Map of tree removal area 2018-09-20 09-29_Page_1

PECO is Planning To Cut Down Thousands of Trees

URGENT!! Attend the Town Hall meeting with PECO at the Eastown Township Library This Thursday, October 25, 2018 from 6:45 to 7:50 SIGN this CHANGE.ORG Petition to show your support. Dear fellow neighbors: I wanted…

URGENT!!
Attend the Town Hall meeting with PECO at the Eastown Township Library This Thursday, October 25, 2018 from 6:45 to 7:50


SIGN this CHANGE.ORG Petition to show your support.

Dear fellow neighbors:

I wanted you all to know that PECO is planning to cut down thousands of trees in our township in the coming months to make way for taller, wider and higher voltage power lines. The yellow spray paint markings you see on trees up and down Newtown Road and Sugartown Road are trees currently slated for removal.

PECO will continue to mark and cut down trees along the power lines in our neighborhood’s backyards and front yards (or wherever the main power line run.) The yellow dots you’ve seen along Beaumont Rd and Newtown Rd are coming to your neighborhood….they just haven’t arrived yet!

In a quick drive by count, I estimated 200 yellow dots on Newtown, Sugartown and Beaumont Roads. If you look at the attached plan from PECO, multiply that by the area of coverage they show and we could be talking about 1,000’s of trees being removed!!

Apparently PECO is regulated at the state level so there is nothing we as local residents can do to stop them from cutting down trees on our own property or neighbor’s properties even though they are beautiful, ecological and emotional parts of our communities.

THIS CANNOT BE ALLOWED! But this tragedy will happen if we don’t fight it and will have profound impacts on all of us as homeowners and residents.

□ Research shows that well arbored neighborhoods (especially those with mature trees) have higher property values (anywhere from 3-15%).
□ What happens when the privacy of our homes is destroyed, when the charm and beauty of our tree lined streets and woodlands are gone forever?
□ What happens to our neighborhoods and the property values of our homes when the trees, some over 100 years old are removed?
□ Will PECO reimburse residents for loss in property value?
□ Do they have a plan to control the flow of water that was once absorbed by the roots and shed evenly by the tree canopies?
□ What happens when the soil erosion and loss of natural filtration pollutes our streams and drinking water (contaminates, pesticides, road chemicals)?
□ Will PECO reimburse homeowners when basements flood and driveways and landscaping erodes?
□ Will PECO reimburse our county road commissions when roadways erode?
□ Without these trees, noise and air pollution increase, the natural habitat for birds and animals is destroyed
□ Will PECO replant the same number of trees they remove? Where? When? What variety? Will they water the new saplings and protect them from deer and pests? Will they replace the new saplings that don’t survive?
□ Will they leave a landscape of stumps everywhere?
□ Have they considered the erosion and soil run off exposes the roots of the remaining trees and puts them at risk for disease, pests and becoming uprooted by strong winds when there is no soil left to hold onto?
□ Certainly our neighborhoods loose power often from down lines from fallen trees, ice, high winds, etc. And those extended outages are often inconvenient, expensive and dangerous.
□ But how do those rates of power loss compare to local, regional and national averages?
□ What is the scope of this project and is it necessary?
□ We do know that the new lines PECO will install are to be “T shaped” or “Y shaped” moving their presence deeper in to our property lines and necessitating the removal of more trees around the new, more high voltage lines to prevent fires.

PECO has refused to provide any information upon request citing they will meet with the families individually affected. One family had their meeting already and they will be losing 58 trees along the front of their property! All of their privacy – gone! That is unacceptable!

What can we do as citizens of this township/county? How can we get these answers and prevent this tragedy?

Many members of this community have advocated on your behalf to elicit the help of our state representatives (Duane Milne). And after much work, and they have secured a meeting with PECO.

ATTEND the Town Hall meeting with PECO at the Eastown Township Library on Thursday, October 25, 2018 from 6:45 to 7:50.

DEMAND PECO discuss:
□ the scope and necessity of this project
□ limiting the number of tree removals
□ proper and attractive pruning for the health and aesthetics of the tree
□ possibly burying the power lines
□ any other options other than complete tree removal
□ water runoff and erosion plans
□ plans for re-planting
□ compensation to homeowners affected

SIGN this CHANGE.ORG Petition to show your support.

EDUCATE YOURSELF:
with these articles discussing the benefits of mature trees in neighborhood values:
www.trulia.com/blog/features-increase-property-values-in-my-neighborhood/
www.arborday.org/trees/benefits.cfm
homeguides.sfgate.com/tree-roots-affect-soil-37932.html
□ Read the book “wishtree” by Katherine Applegate – this was required reading for all 5th grade students at TEMS and VFMS this fall. It is a sweet and profound little book! https://tesd.libguides.com/c.php?g=833875&p=5954411

Please help our community!
Signed,
Amy Biborosch

If you are unaware of this issue, please see below detailed info from Julie DeVuono, who lives along Beaumont Rd across from the school.

Hi Friends,

As many of you are aware, PECO is about to embark – next week – on a major project to strip all of our streets of our beautiful and valuable old trees to make room for new power lines. Personally, they have given us notice that they plan to cut down 58 trees (almost all!) along the roadside of our property! And Newtown Road is a sea of yellow paint dots, indicating the trees that have been doomed. It is happening everywhere! The map for this project is attached.

This has so many implications: greater flooding and erosion issues, greater noise and air pollution (yes, our trees absorb a significant amount of this!), loss of animal and bird habitat, loss of privacy for homeowners… and loss of the charm and beauty of our tree-lined streets! Not to mention the addition of exposed power lines to look at!

Apparently, the new power lines will be higher and will be T or Y shaped, extending wires deeper into our properties. These new wires are of a higher voltage which requires 10’ of clearance to assure the electricity will not “jump” into nearby trees and short out or, worse, start fires. PECO is governed by the Pennsylvania Utility Commission, thus managed at the state level. Our townships can do nothing. In fact, Easttown Township is losing all the trees in front of it’s parking lot. While they bury the lines in new developments, they claim it is impossible (i.e. costs significantly more) to bury them in existing neighborhoods. All this is being done without any discussion with residents in the community. They cannot be allowed to get away with this!

I’ve just signed the following petition “PECO: PECO cannot put down hundreds of trees” and wanted to see if you could help by adding your name and passing this along to your neighbors and friends. Our goal is to reach 100 signatures – or more – and we need your support! You can read more and sign the petition here: https://chn.ge/2MSXI1W
Thanks! Julie


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