WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The town's tree warden and arborists working for National Grid Tuesday explained the rationale for removing or trimming several dozen trees that pose a threat to main power lines around town.

 

Tree Warden Robert McCarthy held a public hearing in conjunction with the Planning Board, which has jurisdiction over a handful of trees scheduled for removal because they are part of a state-designated Scenic Byway on Scott Hill Road.

 

McCarthy told the crowd assembled in the town hall's first-floor meeting that he would be happy to meet with any resident who had a question about a specific tree that has been identified after the meeting. And he reiterated that, ultimately, the final say on whether to take down a town-owned tree rests with the Select Board, to whom residents can appeal his decisions.

 

"There is room for negotiation on any particular tree if there seems to be a problem," McCarthy said. "I've got a pad here. At the end of the hearing, if there's no consensus of opinion, I'd like anyone who has a question on any particular tree, leave your information, and I'll meet with you. I'll take the time to do it. And I'll explain where our position comes from."

 

But the town's tree warden for a quarter of a century said that, at the end of the day, preventing the dangers associated with downed wires is a priority for him.

 

"If it makes sense to preserve a tree and maybe do a little pruning, and National Grid is willing to do that, we'll go along with it," McCarthy said.

 

"If, in my professional opinion, I think a tree is dangerous and presents a liability to the Town of Williamstown, I'm not going to approve it. I don't care what anyone advocates. It will go to the Selectmen, and they'll have the final say."

 

A few residents used the hearing to challenge the notion that the trees needed to be removed and suggest alternatives like more aggressive trimming or cabling at-risk trees or burying power lines underground.

 

One of those residents ended up noting that he had known McCarthy for years and trusted his judgment.

 

As for the idea of burying lines, in addition to the exorbitant cost, there is another factor to consider, National Grid arborist Brian Rodriguez told the attendees.

 

"A lot of times the thought process would be if you put them underground, you could potentially save some of the trees in the area," Rodriguez said. "But the amount of trenching and digging that would need to be done to get that line underground would end up killing a lot more root systems and require us to remove a lot more trees rather than, in the end, saving them."

 

Many of the trees on the list presented by McCarthy were labeled as being in decline, afflicted by pests, diseased or, in one case, "mostly dead." On the other hand, 16 of the 41 trees on the list were identified strictly for their "proximity" to transmission lines.

 

"If you see anything labeled as 'proximity,' that's basically us identifying a tree that is so close to the line that we're unable to trim it healthily, and we would just leave a future hazard," Rodriguez said. "So we'd prefer to mitigate that by taking the tree down, and, that way, we don't have to leave something that wouldn't, aesthetically, look great but also would create a future hazard for the roadway or the power lines."

 

A couple of residents testified that their first inclination was to save the trees on their properties but that they had been convinced that removal probably is the best option.

 

"I'm also distrustful of corporations," Chris Winters said. "But I want to say that Mr. Rodriguez, specifically, has distinguished himself. He's been out to my house twice at my request. And he's spent time discussing what he saw about each of these trees that made him tag them and suggesting alternative trees.

 

"Having still some healthy skepticism, I got a second opinion from an arborist who had no dog in this fight, to come and look at the trees. This arborist said, 'If someone is willing to take these down for free, take them up on it.' "

 

McCarthy explained that his annual budget as tree warden is about $50,000, and it can cost anywhere from $3,000 to $6,000 to remove a single tree. That is part of the reason why National Grid's offer to pay to deal with the 41 trees in question is a benefit to the town.

 

That budget also explains why McCarthy is limited in the amount of tree planting he can do each year after dealing with problem trees that are addressed on the town's dime.

 

Winters later referenced the tree warden's budget constraints.

 

"The energy we're getting is all about loving trees and the trees that we're experiencing now," he said. "And the example of the tree at the library, of the school children under it – we're the generation that's planting trees now for the grandchildren we'll never meet, or the great-grandchildren. So the appeal for more budget to plant more trees in our lifetimes for those people is the appeal that should come out strongly at the end of this.

 

"We should remain energized when it comes to the annual town budget."

 

The only final decision made at Tuesday's meeting was that of the Planning Board, which voted, 5-0, to accept National Grid's plan for tree removals on Scott Hill Road.

 

It remains to be seen whether questions on any of the other trees will be brought back to the Select Board.