Township officials provided questionable and in some cases, flat-out false reasons for removing rather than trimming the trees:
Trustee Mazzurco stated that the Ohio Public Works Agency in Columbus was required the tree removal as part of grant money they were providing for paving.
Yet Abby DeHart, assistant chief financial officer for OPWC, stated in a phone call that OPWC "does NOT require the removal of trees or vegetation in connection with the projects its finances." According to Ms. DeHart, the agency is "like a bank" - it requires estimates of projects, but decision-making about the scope of projects is done at the local level. See email below. Mazzurco never corrected himself and continued to make this false claim.
Mazzurco told me that the OPWC's grant money was funding the tree removal. In fact, the entire job was paid for by local funds. Chester got zero dollars for this job.
Mazzurco stated that the trees had to be removed because they interfered with power lines. Ignoring the fact that the power lines are the responsibility of the power company, Mazzurco also ignored the fact that there are no power lines on the east side of Sperry Road from the hill to Wilson Mills. None. Yet 70 large healthy trees were removed.
According to the minutes of the Jan. 17, 2019 meeting: "Road Superintendent Mike Farrell explained that Ohio Revised Code 5543.14 deals with removing vegetation encroaching on the right of way. The area was surveyed, and by law the vegetation must be removed."
What does the law REALLY say? "ORC 5543.14, removal of tree in the right of way, which states trees may be removed "as is necessary in the engineer's or board's judgment to facilitate the right of the public to improvement and maintenance of, and uninterrupted travel on, county and township roads. " http://codes.ohio.gov/orc/5543.14 See ORC.
Shade from the trees was causing the road to deteriorate:
Areas of Sperry with no shade showed the same level of deterioration as shaded area
Trees on private property on the east and west side of the lower half of Sperry cast as almost much shade as before because the apex window of the sun is nearly the same.
Slippery leaves were a hazard.
Can't make it up.