After residents packed a public hearing Tuesday night to express concerns about hundreds of trees being removed from Francestown’s scenic roads, the planning board wants the utility company Eversource to reassess which trees it needs to target for power line maintenance.
About 450 trees are currently tagged for removal or trimming. Eversource must obtain permission from both landowners and the planning board before removing trees.
Eversource New Hampshire Vegetation Manager Ian Farley and Distribution Engineering Manager Sam Bosse, who represented Eversource at the hearing, said they would return to the board on Dec. 1 with a “complete tree-by-tree assessment” to determine whether every tree that’s currently marked for impact is essential to the project, taking into account the health, age and species of each tree.
Roads which would be impacted by the proposal include 2nd NH Turnpike South, Old County Road South, Cross Road, Woodward Hill Road, Avery Road and Clarkville Road.
Many landowners in town have already given permission to have trees cut on their land as part of the proposal, including on Woodward Hill Road, Avery Road, Stevens Road and Clarkville Road.
Eversource representatives said their proposal is part of a cyclical, five-year maintenance plan intended to reduce the frequency of power outages in Francestown. Farley said that Francestown, which connects with circuits in Bennington and Greenfield, is one of the six worst-performing circuits in the state.
“The only goal of this project is to remedy reliability issues for Francestown,” he said.
Farley said the project will create a tree-free zone around the power lines to prevent contact with the wires and create a safe work environment for line workers, particularly during storms.
Bosse said Eversource “has been operating this resiliency program since the ice storm of 2008,” in which many residents of the Monadnock Region were left without power for three weeks.
According to state law, tree work on designated scenic roads is subject to planning board approval, including on the 2nd NH Turnpike.
Betsy Hardwick, chair of the Francestown Conservation Commission, said at the hearing that her group opposes the project due to the potential impact on Francestown’s scenic roads. Larry Ames of the Francestown Land Trust, which owns some of the land impacted by the project, also spoke against the proposal, urging the board to look closely at how many trees will be cut.
Many residents in attendance had learned about the Eversource proposal after Kaela Malapan, a resident of 2nd NH Turnpike South, started an online petition requesting the planning board conduct further study and explore alternatives before giving approval. Malapan says she first became aware of the proposal after Eversource flagged trees on her property on July 14.
“I was prepared to allow for certain trimming. But what was described to me instead was a total removal of just about every tree on my property along the edge of the road. After hearing that, I denied Eversource permission to cut or trim any of my trees,” Malapan said.
Her petition quickly gained traction in town, and had 168 signatures as of Tuesday night.
“My petition only asks that we get an independent review of this project, an unbiased but expert look at what Eversource is proposing to run through here at the expense of our scenic roads and rural small town,” Malapan wrote on social media. “My petition asks that all of the alternatives are considered and that this project has our town’s best interest in hand.”
Many residents at the meeting said they were willing to accept occasional power outages in exchange for maintaining the beauty of Francestown’s scenic roads.
In the past five years, Francestown has experienced roughly “750 tree-related outages impacting more than 36,000 customers,” according to Sarah Paduano, a spokesperson for Eversource.
The majority of the trees targeted for removal are in located in town rights-of-way, she said.
“Any trimming or removals require the permission of both the planning board and individual property owners, who we always notify in advance if tree work is necessary,” Paduano said in a statement. “We’ve been closely communicating with customers along the project route and the town planning board to discuss the need for this proposed work – including coordinating in-person site visits as recently as this week – and we’ll continue to work collaboratively with all stakeholders as the permission process moves forward.”