When the mailman arrived at Barbara Wilson’s house Saturday morning, he brought bad news – a letter from Randall F. Gann of Alabama Power Company saying the three pecan trees in her front yard would be removed.Wilson immediately answered Gann’s letter with a one of her own to the president of Alabama Power, Charles McCrary.
In her letter she told the power company head that she has no intention of allowing them to cut down her trees, then, once again, asked them to justify the removal.
“In addition to all the environmental, financial, aesthetic and physical problems that will occur if these trees are cut, I would like to say that I have been under tremendous emotional strain for the past two months,” said Wilson in her letter to McCrary. “I know that neither you, nor Mr. [Alan] Martin or Mr. Gann would ever put your wife, mother or daughter through what your company has put me through this summer! I hope that the three of you will have the moral courage to be here when your workers cut our trees to the ground, so you can look me in the eyes as they carry me to jail.”
Wilson would also like to know why the company has never used tree wires, insulated power lines, in Jacksonville as they have in other towns. The wires have been used in other areas of Jacksonville, but according to Alabama Power spokesman Buddy Eiland, there have been safety issues with the lines.
“Our experience with tree wires has not been satisfactory from a safety standpoint,” said Eiland.
Eiland acknowledges that the fight over Wilson’s trees has become an emotional issue to her and her supporters, but says the company can’t allow themselves to look at it through the veil of emotion.
“We can’t let it be an emotional issue. We have to look at it from a business standpoint and a safety and reliability standpoint,” said Eiland.
The fight over Wilson’s trees began on June 28 when a crew of tree cutters arrived at her house to cut the trees, citing safety concerns.
At the July 11 Jacksonville City Council meeting, the council passed a toothless resolution barring any company working for Alabama Power from cutting trees in town until further negotiations could be completed.
Wilson continued to take her fight up the chain of command at Alabama Power then to the Public Service Commission which, despite its statement from the beginning that it held no jurisdiction over the matter, agreed to hear her case on Aug. 14.
Since the care of her husband, Jimmy, required her to remain at home, Derek Raulerson and Dr. Rufus Kinney went to Montgomery to bring her concerns, as well as their own, to the commission.
On Aug. 24, Alabama Power filed a motion with the commission asking it to refuse the claim on the grounds the commission had no jurisdiction. The motion was granted.
“We were surprised with the ruling of the PSC because we believed we would have a public hearing, which we feel is necessary,” said Raulerson.
Currently, Wilson is taking things one day at a time, knowing any day could be the last for her trees.
According to Eiland, most of the tree removal and trimming in Jacksonville has been completed without incident, but Wilson is not the only resident who will receive a letter.
Kinney is refusing to have a cherry tree near the road in his front yard to be cut. It is a tree he had not given much thought until seven years ago – the first time the cutters came through and tried to take it.
“They said ‘Can we cut this tree down?’ and I said ‘No. It’s my tree, I don’t want it cut down.’ Ever since then I’ve become fonder of it,” said Kinney. “When I practiced climbing up it, I can be up in that tree in under 20 seconds.”
Though Kinney hates to see any trees cut, he acknowledges that some trees need to be removed because they are dangerously close to the power lines and pose a risk not only to the lines themselves, but anyone who gets near the tree when it brushes a line. He believes each tree should be taken on a case by case basis.
“There are trees that do need to be destroyed and many that need to be trimmed,” said Kinney as he related a story of being initially upset at the cutting of a tree a few blocks away only to realize afterward how badly wrapped around the wires the tree had been.
Alabama Power doesn’t regularly send out letters to customers whose trees require cutting or trimming – only those who have refused to allow cutting or trimming in the past.
“We go knock on doors and tell people what we are planning to do. We don’t just go cut people’s trees down, we don’t even trim without letting people know what we’re doing in most cases,” said Eiland. “We make every attempt to tell people what we’re doing.”
The company holds a franchise with the city dating back to 1915, giving Alabama Power the authority to maintain rights of way in the city in order to supply its residents with electricity. City Attorney Grant Paris updated the Jacksonville City Council on his research into the issue at Monday’s council meeting.
He told the council he sees no way to prevent Wilson’s trees from being cut, but is continuing to look into any ordinances the city can pass to protect the remaining trees in Jacksonville.
“There is nothing we can do in this ordinance we can do to override our situation, but we can better serve our community by the use of some kind of tree ordinance that requires replacement,” said Paris, cautioning any ordinance would have to be carefully written to preserve the rights of homeowners.
