News, Waterford

Village funding award seeds spring plantings

By Patricia Bogumil

Editor

The Village of Waterford has received $750 from American Transmission Company to plant trees and other vegetation once winter is over.

According to James Bergles, assistant director of the village’s Department of Public Works, the money will be used in the following ways:

One River Birch will be placed in the small park on the south side of Main Street, west of the Fox River.

“This will replace a tree that died that was located close to the bridge,” Bergles explained.

One decorative tree or Lilac-type will be placed in the small walkway on the north side of Main Street leading to the public parking area.

The current tree there is diseased and needs to be removed, Bergles said.

Two River Birch trees will be placed at the end of River Street behind the new guardrail. Two larger trees were removed last summer due to storm damage and disease.

One flowering-type of tree will be placed in Whitford Park by the new flowerbeds along the river.

That’s the current plan, Bergles noted. “All plantings are dependent on the availability of the tree and the cost of the tree but this is what we hope to accomplish as soon as the frost is out,” he explained.

The ATC funding check arrived in late December, Bergles added, so the timing is a little late for the village to take action right now.

The awarded funds are part of ATC’s Community Planting Program. To qualify, recipients must be committed to complying with ATC maintenance standards for current and future planting plans near high-voltage electric transmission lines.

“It is ATC’s responsibility to keep trees and brush out of the transmission line rights-of-way for public safety and electric system reliability,” said ATC Environmental and Local Relations Manager Greg Levesque.

“Collaborating with communities in our service territory to educate them about vegetation growth in the rights-of-way helps ATC maintain the safety and electric reliability of the grid.”

The Village is among 33 communities to share in a total of $55,000 in ATC funding. Awards ranged from $500 to $4,000 for planting projects on public property where ATC facilities exist.

 

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