And the Redhill Valley Is Next
I have been up and the Redhill Pkwy many, many times and don't recall seeing hydro towers located along there, guess I should have a better look next time.
Posted with permission from the Hamilton Spectator
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Dec 03, 2015
'Virgin Territory': Red Hill Valley next hydro cull target
Hamilton Spectator
By Teviah Moro
The Red Hill Valley is on deck for Hydro One's tree-clearing efforts following a cull on the Beach Strip.
But the city has no wiggle room to save trees that may come in the path of the utility's chain saws, says Coun. Chad Collins.
"This time, there is no compromise."
Last week, the provincial electricity distributor started a five-week plan to cut vegetation along the Beach to protect power lines.
In the past, an "informal arrangement" allowed city forestry staff to attend work sites with Hydro One workers to save trees, Collins said during Tuesday's general issues committee meeting.
"We actually walked the trail and tried to save as many as we could."
But Hydro One is less flexible now that it's cutting less frequently, but more each time to shave costs, Collins said.
The Ward 5 councillor suggested trees that haven't been touched for 20 or 30 years are potential targets.
"They've never visited the valley to maintain the trees. This is virgin territory for them."
But Hydro One won't be setting a precedent by cutting trees there.
The construction of the Red Hill Valley Parkway exploded into protests, arrests, heated community debates and lawsuits.
Some opponents of the plan camped out in trees, trying to save the 12,400 that were cut down to make way for the highway, which opened in 2007.
Hydro One's "vegetation management area" is about 2.5 kilometres, running along Glen Castle Drive and following the path of Mount Albion Road up the escarpment.
The utility doesn't yet know when the Red Hill project will start or the scope of work involved, said spokesperson Tiziana Baccega Rosa.
"It's still in the planning stages."
Baccega Rosa disputed that Hydro One's efforts to involve the city have changed.
"They've been engaged and involved."
Utility staff met with city officials, including once with Collins, twice in November about the most recent Beach project, she noted.
"In fact, we do walk the corridor and go through everything with them."
City forestry manager Steve Barnhart said staff are familiar with the Beach work plan but saving individual trees "isn't on the table anymore."
Barnhart said replanting could soften some of the altered landscape at the Beach and in the valley.
"Yes, we're going to lose wooded vegetation, but it's not like we're not going to get anything from them."
Baccega Rosa couldn't say Wednesday how much will be cut during the Red Hill project, but noted maintenance targets any "incompatible" vegetation that in its lifetime could grow into the wire zone.
Hydro One has said the shift to less frequent "vegetation management work" is meant to cut costs, while meeting safety and regulatory requirements.
The result "does look more dramatic" at first, Baccega Rosa acknowledged.
On Wednesday, Collins asked staff to explore how much it would cost the city to maintain the corridors to maintain as much mature vegetation as possible.
The transmission utility's maintenance projects have also stirred controversy in Burlington, Guelph and Kitchener and Kingston.
The province is selling 60 per cent of Hydro One to help pay for its $130-billion public transit and infrastructure goals.
Collins argued the province is more concerned about selling the utility than maintaining its assets properly.
"I think that's a sad state of affairs."
tmoro@thespec.com
905-526-3264 | @TeviahMoro
http://www.thespec.com/news-story/6156554--virgin-territory-red-hill-valley-next-hydro-cull-target/