Trimming will begin soon on trees that have grown around power lines. The Fayette city council approved a bid by Braik’s Tree Care during their regular meeting on Tuesday, August 24.

The city has experienced several recent power outages, mostly caused by tree limbs entangled into power lines. The problem has been ongoing for years. 

Danny Dougherty, Fayette’s Director of Public Works, implored the city in early 2020 to address the problem with tree branches around the power lines. The city council heard a presentation by Tim Poindexter from Poor Boy Tree Service, Inc., at a meeting on January 21, 2020, and by March had received bids from two tree trimming companies.

The city never acted on either bid, presumably because of a number of issues that arose suddenly, such as fines by the state in excess of $150,000 and the subsequent firing of City Administrator Robin Triplett, and the COVID-19 pandemic. The city received only two bids for tree trimming. Dougherty presented them to council members and recommended the council accept the bid from Braik’s Tree Care.

“He’s really professional and he’s a certified arborist,” Dougherty explained.

The city budgeted $50,000 for tree trimming during this fiscal year. The bid from Braik’s totals $35,000. The company will trim trees in the northwest circuit on West Davis Street, Park Road, Nipper Street, Herndon Street, Corprew Street, and Lawrence Drive.

Dougherty said the trimming will occur over a three-week period and will cover about a quarter of the necessary trees. The majority of power interruptions have occurred in the northwest circuit.