(This information is provided by Eric Bridges and Nick Bridgeman of the Lakeland, Tennessee Natural Resources Department concerning the requirements of the City of Lakeland on pruning of trees on public right of way in Lakeland.
The MLGW subcontractor, ASPLUNDH, is pruning trees in Lakeland. This necessary maintenance of the utility always causes concern for us and our residents. We’d like to share with you some progress that’s been made on cooperative work between the City and the utility. You may still not like the way the trees looks when it’s all said and done but it will be better for the tree, the utility, the City, and you.
There are four parts to the issue and as you will see they are all inter-related.
- Reliability: We need to keep tree limbs out the powerlines to prevent outages. Proper pruning will increase system reliability by decreasing tree-related outages.
- Costs: It costs a lot of money to prune the entire utility system. Proper pruning can reduce these costs.
- Safety: Limbs growing near and into the powerlines can become energized and a danger to people who may contact the tree or climb the tree and reach the wires. Pruning correctly will minimize this risk.
- Tree Health: Pruning property will maximize tree health
- What can you do to help? Never plant a large maturing tree within the utility easement. Better to plant a tree that has a mature height of 15 feet or less and let it grow to its full form than to plant a large maturing tree and continually fight against its natural tendencies. Consider redbuds, dogwoods, multiple stem crape myrtles, etc. You can also help by calling us when you see a problem. We don’t see and hear everything so we need your eyes out there!
Our ultimate goal is to make sure the right tree is growing in the right place.
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