Meeting with Senator Stewart-Cousins, the Public Service Commission & Town Supervisor Feiner

There was a significant turnout today at our town meeting with Senator Stewart-Cousins, three representatives from the PSC and Our Town Supervisor, Paul Feiner. Several reporters from local newspapers and News 12 were present. Immediately following the meeting, a brief walk-through was also conducted to show some of the most severely affected areas.

The turnout alone showed the community and our lawmakers that Con Edison's recent clear-cutting has affected a tremendous amount of Greenburgh residents, and we are unwilling to let this fade into our memories without changes being made.

Senator Stewart-Cousins made the point that a lack of communication was a large part of the problem. Her interest is to change the federal and state legislation so that something like this cannot occur in the future without due notification and clear, logical, and specific justification. Current federal regulation is also a contributor to the injustice that occurred to our wooded areas along Con Edison's rights-of-way (ROWs).

One of the representatives from the PSC informed us that more aggressive maintenance along rights-of-way is now required by federal legislation (as mandated by FERC) that resulted from the blackout of 2003. Interestingly, he also pointed out that New York State is the only state EXEMPT from these guidelines, due to the fact that it has consistently been a leader in transmission reliability. So why the extreme cutting plan? Didn't NYS earn that status with the trees still standing?

The PSC has stated that Con Edison was not required to file an environmental impact study because it is not a new construction. The rebuttal was that the agreement for this ROW was created almost 100 years ago and does not address the current residential layout of the area.

That being said, Paul Feiner, who was instrumental in bringing together this group of people, asked the PSC to consider making a change in the franchise agreement with the utility, as that agreement was made before most of the adjacent homes were built. He also stated that it is essential for residents to reach out to Con Edison and negotiate to gain reparations (replacement trees seems to be the only way to go).

None of us disagree that ROWs must be maintained. What we all agreed upon is that the recent maintenance was not done respectfully, honestly, and logically. We also maintain that much of what was cut did not need to be cut - the evidence of this is how reliable electrical transmission along these ROWs has always been in the past, in addition to sheer logic.

It was also brought up that there is an area on Sprain Road that is now unsafe in the event of a car accident. There are very limited guard rail systems, and the trees that were there were part of the natural "braking" system at the top of that steep slope were removed in 2007.

There are areas that have completely eroded and sink holes have developed due to the clear-cutting. In addition, trees in that particular area prevented access for local children to the highway.

There was a consensus that loss of privacy is now a huge issue for all residents adjacent to a ROW. This loss of privacy makes many feel exposed and unsafe in their homes.

So what's the big idea? One big idea is that we need to continue to work (with Senator Stewart-Cousins) towards changing legislation in order to protect residents, as well as utility reliability. Another big idea is that each resident affected by the clear-cutting should be dealing directly with Con Edison to negotiate replantings.

A critical outcome of this meeting is that the PSC and our lawmakers are involved. The PSC has agreed to investigate the legitimacy of the recent clear-cutting and - if overcutting was done - hold Con Edison accountable. They stated that they would return to conduct more thorough onsite inspection.