Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Where's the Lorax when you need him?

Ok, I'm not a tree hugger by any means....  but when I woke up one morning to the sound of chainsaws, I didn't know it would be the start of a bitter battle with city governments, big corporations and more.

Come to find out that morning, that were cutting down a tree directly behind our fence.  Like, literally, the roots touch our fence.  Now picture this first...this is one of only 2 trees behind us that is big and huge and beautiful and green and bushy.  It blocks our view of the business behind us - an urgent care clinic - and their view of us.  Because they sit up taller than our ground level, our fence offers no view protection from them.  The trees are it.  With our pool now, I didn't want this big ugly view of the building.  Plus I don't want the patients sitting in waiting rooms to look out the window and see my girls swimming in the summer.  The trees were great blockage from all that!  And they were cutting one of them down.  The biggest one.

So I run out, give the guys some hot chocolate to convince them to hold off for just a few minutes while I make some phone calls.  These guys were 100% supportive as they hated to cut down such a great tree and could totally see my point.  Granted its not MY tree, but......ugh!  Worker guy found out they were cutting it down to make room for an electrical pole.  Another one.  We already have 2 back there.  Plus in my mind, why can't they put said electrical pole a few feet over.  Why kill the tree?

So I called.  I called first the City...as its technically their easement.  But nope - they had released privilege to the urgent care facility.  I called the head over the workers cutting down the tree.  And guess what?  It was my friend from the Green Team!  Remember the awesome company that repaired my window so quickly?  He, too, was also stunned they were doing this and had even remembered coming out and looking and questioning their decision.  But the guy in charge told him to take it down.  So they were just hired to do the job.  He gave me that guys' name.  And in the meantime, gave his workers a reprieve from that job that day.  If the job continued, he would send them back another day.  Gave me some time.

My mother in law actually called and talked to him.  She has a little more pull around here sometimes and a lot more assertive than me when it comes to that kind of stuff, so I had already enlisted her help.  While she was waiting for a call back, she talked to the director of the entire hospital, the priest that runs the show and everyone in between.  They were all in support.  Director told her if there was any way to save it, he would...but he just wasn't sure.  Finally the guy in charge of this specific endeavor called her back.  He was a jerk and said, nope it had to go, no other place for it, bottom line, we don't care.


:(



The next day the Green Team was called back out to remove the tree, despite all our efforts.  The tree is now gone.  There's a HUGE gaping hole it seems between our yard and this ugly building that I now despise b/c of that one guy's rudeness.


That picture was while they were in the process of cutting it down - you can see the bare bones tree before it goes completely.  :(

And for the record, my mother in law did talk to the director of the hospital again to relay what a jerk that guy was - he will be taking care of it he said.  Maybe he can't stop the job, but he could stop the attitude.



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