By Tom Gilchrist
Staff Writer
CARO — Tuscola County Road Commission leaders plan to use about $582,000 in grant money to remove trees in the road right-of-way along 40.6 miles of roads in nine townships.
Some — but not all — of the trees targeted for removal are ash trees killed by the emerald ash borer, an exotic beetle native to Asia that has killed millions of ash trees in southeastern Michigan since the beetle was discovered near Detroit in 2002.
The intent of the tree-removal program is to reduce accidents in the county.
About 17 county residents attended a public hearing Thursday morning regarding trees that have been marked for removal in selected spots in Arbela, Millington, Watertown, Tuscola, Vassar, Fremont, Ellington, Elkland and Columbia townships.
“We have, potentially, 800 properties involved,” said County Highway Engineer Michele L. Zawerucha, who said she received confirmation by telephone that the county Road Commission has received the grant.
Workers have marked some of the trees targeted for removal and the Road Commission has mailed postcards to property owners in the affected areas.
The trees are in the road right-of-way controlled by the Road Commission, an area that — by law — extends 33 feet in each direction from the centerline of a road.
Watertown Township resident Mark E. Valentine, who lives along Edward Road, said he supports the Road Commission’s project.
“My feeling is, if it’s in the road right-of-way, cut the tree,” Edwards said at Thursday’s public hearing before the board overseeing the Road Commission.
County residents may find information on the tree-removal program at www.tuscolaroad.org. Trees targeted for removal will be marked with a pink painted “X.”
The trees are located in the following areas: Ormes Road in Tuscola and Vassar townships; Bray Road in Tuscola and Arbela townships; Lewis Road (sections 19, 20, 29 and 30) in Arbela Township; Arbela Road (sections 27 and 34) in Arbela Township; Belsay Road (sections 35 and 36) in Arbela Township; Irish Road (sections 17 and 18) in Millington Township; Murphy Lake Road (sections 3 and 10) in Millington Township; Millington Road across all of Watertown Township; Brown Road (section 33) in Fremont Township; Brown Road (section 4) in Watertown Township; North Lake Road (sections 4, 5, 8 and 9) in Watertown Township; Center Road (sections 15, 16, 27 and 28) in Watertown Township; Deckerville Road across Ellington Township; and Bay City-Forestville Road across Elkland Township and west of Remington Road in Columbia Township.
County residents have been concerned for several years about dead ash trees in road rights-of-way. A survey by a Watertown Township resident in October of 2013 found 1,024 dead trees in that township alone.
Road Board members said they were approached by county Commissioner Craig Kirkpatrick about trees in road rights-of-way. Zawerucha, using data on vehicle accidents in the county, wrote a grant application.
From 2009 to 2013, more than 1,200 crashes with fixed objects took place in Tuscola County with “predominantly trees that were involved,” Zawerucha said. Twenty-nine percent of those crashes resulted in either personal injuries or fatalities, Zawerucha said.
When choosing which roads to target regarding tree removal, “We did focus on the lower part of Tuscola County by the request of Craig Kirkpatrick, and I did use some other primary roads that had significant accident records,” Zawerucha said.
Barbara Colling, who lives along Murphy Lake Road in Watertown Township, told the Road Board that her 96-year-old neighbor doesn’t want her trees taken down.
“She (also) didn’t want the ones (cut) across the road from her, which are on our property — and we don’t, either, because they’re nice maple trees,” Colling said.
“If you do not want that to happen, we would like something in writing from you,” Zawerucha said.
Watertown Township Clerk Barb Tanks said she’ll contact residents in affected areas by letter or in person to let them know that if they don’t want trees cut on their properties, they need to respond immediately to the Road Commission.
Arbela Township Supervisor Kenneth Panek told the Road Board he was glad to hear it’s receiving the grant money.
“The only question I have — and it may sound kind of silly — is who’s gonna get all the wood?” Panek said.
Zawerucha said the Road Commission intends for property owners to keep the wood from the downed trees if property owners want it.
“There are a lot of outside wood burners that are out there in Arbela Township,” Panek said. “I don’t want people fighting over wood.”
Watertown Township Treasurer Patricia Frenzel told the Road Commission she’s concerned some trees — such as some near the northeast corner of Millington and Fostoria roads — haven’t been marked yet. Frenzel also told the Road Commission about unmarked trees in front of the Watertown Township Cemetery.
“If it falls, it’s going to fall in the road,” Frenzel said, “and I don’t see any trees marked there.”
The technician marking trees for removal hasn’t completed his work yet, according to Zawerucha.
Tree removal wouldn’t occur until next winter, Road Board member Gary Parsell said. “That’s why we have this meeting today, to get everything cleared up,” Parsell said. “We’ve got time to make changes before anything happens. It’s almost a year away before anything’s going to happen.”
Road Board Chairman Jack Laurie told the audience to inform county residents about the tree-removal program.
“You folks have some responsibility, too, especially those of you who are township officials,” Laurie said. “I think part of your role needs to be to make sure that everybody is talking about this so that we know what’s going on. Once you cut a tree, it’s pretty hard to put it back.”