Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

By Shirley Salemy Meyer

Im an avid painter. Fine art, such as peonies rendered in watercolors or portraits captured by oil, is not my forte. I favor the practical arts. Each year, in late spring and early summer, I paint something a room, a radiator, a patio chair, a window seat in my century-old house. In a week or a weekend, I see a dramatic change.

The notion of change is often thought of as difficult changing jobs can be laborious, changing routines can be disconcerting, even frightening. But change can also be transformative. I approached this years painting season, a time when COVID-19 forced me to change my routines and added layers of worry about my elderly parents in quarantine and my teenage children in remote learning, with a profound need for something new. The slowness of rolling a fresh paint color along nine-foot-high walls, of brushing another layer of semigloss onto wide, decorative wood moldings, allowed contemplation during this disquieting time, a stocktaking of present-day problems and future possibilities.

During my weeks of isolation in Essex County in the midst of the dangerous pandemic, sobering protests urging us to acknowledge and fight racial injustice, and stubborn national leadership one project led to the next. I painted the attic, the mudroom and two bathrooms.

Painting is a methodical, meditative process. I use a roller to cover broad areas of the walls, and then carefully drag my brush along the narrow spaces that the roller is unable to reach. I dont use tape to protect the window and door casings, the crown and baseboard moldings, when I cut in. Instead, I rely on my steady hand and a sharply angled brush. My body leans into the wall, nearly hugging it, as I pull the brush along the edge of the molding to get a clean line. The result of this slow, intimate work is a new look.

Sometimes, change can cause harm. The baseboard moldings are a mess, scuffed up by kids shoes and toys, and contain sections that are wavy and chipped. But lead paint is present amid the layers of paint. Ill never risk sanding the molding to attain a smooth finish when lead paint dust can be so damaging to our health. I can live with the moldings flaws.

But most change is a mark of progress. My drop cloths are a historical record of change in the house: old sheets with dump trucks or bright green polka dots, discolored shower curtains and plastic tablecloths splattered with glitter glue. After each painting project, I wash them all, then store them in a basement room where I keep supplies. The room is filled with old gallons of paint and quarts of colors I tested in various rooms. I recently cleaned out the cans that I will never need again: an electric blue and lime green that were on the walls of the girls room a decade ago; a soft blue that adorned the baby room the bedroom with the crib and changing table that two of my kids cycled into as infants and out of as toddlers. My youngest remained there a twin bed replaced the crib and the changing table became a bookcase and now three of its walls are painted white, the fourth a brick red.

The dining room has been three different colors in 19 years: golden yellow, off-white, and now a saturated, smoky blue. The color of the living room has changed from gold to beige to taupe during that same time period. The most dramatic makeover during my current painting season was in the mudroom, with the walls changing from fiery orange to a serene blue-green hue.

Each time Ive painted a room, Ive gained a new understanding, a new way of looking at the house and my environment. I never realized the usefulness of a bedroom window seat with storage until I painted it. I didnt appreciate the intricacy of the balusters in the attic until I painstakingly brushed them with paint. That gorgeous new color in the mudroom, which toggles between blue and green depending on the time of day, opened my eyes to how much sunshine enters the room.

Right now, we all would benefit from such a new perspective a shake-up in our thinking, a revitalization in our own lives and a much-needed boost to the collective well-being of the country. If only it came as easily as a few fresh coats of paint on imperfect walls.

Shirley Salemy Meyer, a Maplewood resident, is a part-time lecturer in the Writing Program at Rutgers-New Brunswick.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Heres how to submit an op-ed or Letter to the Editor. Bookmark NJ.com/Opinion. Follow us on Twitter @NJ_Opinion and on Facebook at NJ.com Opinion. Get the latest news updates right in your inbox. Subscribe to NJ.coms newsletters.

Continued here:
Painting is slow, meditative and a way to bring change | Opinion - NJ.com

news, latest-news,

The main stained-glass windows at St John's Anglican Church in Reid have served as a reminder to the church's parishioners of the story of John the Baptist for nearly 150 years, but time can take its toll on the delicate assembled panels of glass. Now, a $10,000 heritage grant from the ACT government will see the church develop a conservation plan for the building's windows. The church's rector, Father Paul Black, said no conservation work had been done on the windows for 25 years, and the church did not know what condition the windows were in. Stained-glass window experts from Brisbane will be brought in to assess their condition and make a plan to best care for them. Father Black said he and the parishioners hoped the windows were in good order and little needed to be done to maintain them well into the future. He said the church's heritage was part of its attraction to its parishioners, who were drawn from a wide social circle. "There are a lot of people right across the generations who are attracted to a sense of history: a church that actually looks like a church rather than an auditorium, and so on and so forth," Father Black said. Apart from the main windows, the church has stained-glass placed in memory of members of the Campbell family, some of the earliest settlers on the Limestone Plains. Two small windows composed of fragments collected from ruined churches on the First World War Somme battlefields in France by Chaplain F.G. Ward were installed in June 1929. Last year, the church, which predates the establishment of Canberra by more than 70 years, replaced its shingle roof with Welsh slate, raising $360,000 to complete the project. Father Black said when the original wood shingle roof came to be replaced in 1960, the new wonder material chosen was asbestos. Although the church was spared from the January hailstorm, which lashed Canberra in a band from west to east wreaking havoc on many of the city's heritage buildings, Father Black said it was a difficult church to maintain. Father Black, who has been rector at the church for more than a decade, said there was a lot of community support for the church as a piece of Canberra's history. "This precinct is wider than say Christianity. It's to do with who we are as a Canberra community," he said. The coronavirus pandemic has meant the church's services have shifted to accommodate more people. It can comfortably fit 120 people normally, but is presently limited to 40 people. On Saturday, the first wedding since March was set to be held in the church. "It's very difficult to disinfect historic pews and all those things," Father Black said. Other projects to receive grants include more than $11,000 to help conserve murals at the Free Serbian Orthodox Church St George in Forrest and nearly $30,000 for conservation works at Cuppacumbalong Homestead near Tharwa. Expanded audio and augmented reality experiences will also receive heritage funding. Grants will be made to individuals, schools and local historical and residents' societies. More than $370,000 will be awarded under the scheme in 2020-21. Heritage Minister Mick Gentleman said the grants would help support new tours, signage and digitisation projects, as well as conservation work in private, heritage-registered homes. "All the projects celebrate Canberra's wonderful heritage and will help preserve our local history for future generations," Mr Gentleman said.

https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/fdcx/doc7c3cu7aullv1l98x8f47.jpg/r6_192_4100_2505_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg

The main stained-glass windows at St John's Anglican Church in Reid have served as a reminder to the church's parishioners of the story of John the Baptist for nearly 150 years, but time can take its toll on the delicate assembled panels of glass.

Now, a $10,000 heritage grant from the ACT government will see the church develop a conservation plan for the building's windows.

The church's rector, Father Paul Black, said no conservation work had been done on the windows for 25 years, and the church did not know what condition the windows were in.

Stained-glass window experts from Brisbane will be brought in to assess their condition and make a plan to best care for them.

Father Black said he and the parishioners hoped the windows were in good order and little needed to be done to maintain them well into the future.

A stained-glass window at St John's in Reid. Picture: Elesa Kurtz

He said the church's heritage was part of its attraction to its parishioners, who were drawn from a wide social circle.

"There are a lot of people right across the generations who are attracted to a sense of history: a church that actually looks like a church rather than an auditorium, and so on and so forth," Father Black said.

Apart from the main windows, the church has stained-glass placed in memory of members of the Campbell family, some of the earliest settlers on the Limestone Plains.

Two small windows composed of fragments collected from ruined churches on the First World War Somme battlefields in France by Chaplain F.G. Ward were installed in June 1929.

Last year, the church, which predates the establishment of Canberra by more than 70 years, replaced its shingle roof with Welsh slate, raising $360,000 to complete the project.

Father Black said when the original wood shingle roof came to be replaced in 1960, the new wonder material chosen was asbestos.

Although the church was spared from the January hailstorm, which lashed Canberra in a band from west to east wreaking havoc on many of the city's heritage buildings, Father Black said it was a difficult church to maintain.

Father Black, who has been rector at the church for more than a decade, said there was a lot of community support for the church as a piece of Canberra's history.

"This precinct is wider than say Christianity. It's to do with who we are as a Canberra community," he said.

The coronavirus pandemic has meant the church's services have shifted to accommodate more people. It can comfortably fit 120 people normally, but is presently limited to 40 people. On Saturday, the first wedding since March was set to be held in the church.

"It's very difficult to disinfect historic pews and all those things," Father Black said.

A stained-glass window at St John's in Reid. Picture: Elesa Kurtz

Other projects to receive grants include more than $11,000 to help conserve murals at the Free Serbian Orthodox Church St George in Forrest and nearly $30,000 for conservation works at Cuppacumbalong Homestead near Tharwa.

Expanded audio and augmented reality experiences will also receive heritage funding. Grants will be made to individuals, schools and local historical and residents' societies.

More than $370,000 will be awarded under the scheme in 2020-21.

Heritage Minister Mick Gentleman said the grants would help support new tours, signage and digitisation projects, as well as conservation work in private, heritage-registered homes.

"All the projects celebrate Canberra's wonderful heritage and will help preserve our local history for future generations," Mr Gentleman said.

Read more:
St John's at Reid will receive heritage grant to help maintain stained-glass windows - The Canberra Times

Bassem Mroue, Associated Press

Beirut residents determined to save heritage lost to blast

BEIRUT (AP) For the past decade, art collector Nabil Debs has been working on turning his 19th century ancestral home in a historic neighborhood of Beirut to a hotel and art gallery. He planned to open it to the public in mid-August.

Within seconds, his lifelong dream came crashing down, along with the two-story buildings stone facade and front balcony as a massive explosion tore through Beirut, shearing off facades, blasting holes in buildings, doors, stones and shattering glass across the capital.

The Aug. 4 blast resulting from nearly 3,000 tons of improperly stored ammonium nitrates igniting at the port of Beirut killed more than 180 people and wounded nearly 6,000. It also damaged thousands of buildings, including dozens of charming Ottoman and French mandate-era structures which had been among the few survivors of a years-old construction frenzy replacing traditional houses with modern buildings. They include old homes, restaurants, museums and churches.

In the streets of two Beirut historic neighborhoods, Gemmayzeh and Mar Mikhael, workers are erecting scaffolding to support buildings that have stood for more than a century - now at risk of collapse.

Among them is the house of Debs, who says he is more determined to go ahead with his project, called Arthaus, that consists of 25 rooms. Days after the explosion, after hed recovered from the shock and workers started renovation works. Now he plans the inauguration for mid-September.

We have been working on this project for the last 10 years. For us it is a labor of love, said Debs, standing in a yard between his ancestral red-brick house, which was built in 1860, and another family home built in 1780. We love the project, we love Beirut and we love Lebanon and thats what we are.

The day of the blast, Debs was at the house. He stepped outside into the backyard with a friend who wanted to smoke a cigarette. They were lucky. Had they gone to the front, the whole facade would have fallen on them. They miraculously escaped without a scratch.

It was a horror story, Debs said.

He estimates his losses to be at least $250,000 and could reach $1.5 million, as some art pieces including sculptures were damaged.

Naji Raji, an activist and spokesman for Save Beirut Heritage, said the blast damaged more than 600 historic buildings in Beirut, of which about 40 are at risk of collapse. He said out of the 40 buildings, work has begun to support 17 of them. Raji said some estimates put the cost of renovating old buildings at about $300 million.

The renovation work is being carried out by the Beirut Heritage Initiative, a coalition that includes among others the U.N. culture agency UNESCO, the French embassy and the architects syndicate, Raji said. The state is largely absent, apart from producing licenses for work.

Many of the buildings destroyed in the blast were proud holdouts. Since the end of the 15-year civil war in 1990, many old buildings have been demolished and replaced by modern high rises, as speculators stepped in to make fortunes. Since the blast occurred there have been reports of middlemen scouting destroyed neighborhoods and making offers to buy old buildings.

That appears to have provoked a determination by owners to save their buildings.

A giant banner placed on a damaged historic building reads in Arabic and English: We are staying. Another banner hanged on a street in Gemmayzeh reads: Our history is not for sale.

National heritage should be protected. It is very important heritage for the identity of the country, UNESCOs chief Audrey Azoulay told journalists in Beirut on Thursday. She added that UNESCO launched a campaign titled Li Beirut, or for Beirut, and called on states, the private sector and individuals to donate money.

She called for preserving the historic districts of Beirut through laws that prevent selling buildings by taking advantage of weak owners.

Earlier this month, caretaker Finance Minister Ghazi Wazni issued a decree preventing the sale of any historic building without permission from the Culture Ministry, a move that aims to prevent exploitation.

In Gemmayzeh, Aida Qazoun, 80, moved around her four-room apartment on the ground floor of a century-old three-story building as workers fixed broken windows and cemented holes in the walls.

She returned from her sons home in the mountains, where she moved for two weeks after the blast along with her daughter who suffered an arm injury from flying glass and who also returned home.

I got married and moved into this apartment 60 years ago. I will stay here, said Qazoun as she prepared a pot of Arabic coffee for the workers to take a rest during a hot and humid summer day.

Read more:
Beirut residents determined to save heritage lost to blast - The Herald Review

HOLLY HILL, Fla., Aug. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ --Florida tree removal specialists, SB Tree Service, are joining the fight to help Texas and Louisiana after Hurricane Laura. On Thursday morning, the agency's entire team of tree professionals hit the road, driving straight into Lake Charles to help with storm mitigation and tree removal. This was right on the tail of a hurricane predicted to leave "catastrophic" damage.

Hurricane Laura, a massive Category 4 hurricane, hit the Texas Gulf Coast at 1 a.m. on Thursday morning. City officials warned more than 580,000 coastal residents to evacuate their homes ahead of the storm, which was still a Category 2, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, a few hours after it landed.

And the center of where that storm hit? Lake Charles. SB Tree Service managerAngel Vanburgercommented: "We're going to where it hit the hardest because we want to help. This is a rapid-response tree service for the homes and businesses that need it the most."

SB Tree Service is a full-spectrum tree management agency, with a selection of maintenance services, from trimmingand tree removalto storm debris work for residential and commercial properties. Usually, this work takes place in Volusia County, FL but, as recently as 2018, the company was in North Carolina and Panama City, helping with Hurricane Florence and Michael, respectively.

"We'll be responding to reports of storms and hurricane damage, maybe moving North as things develop," said Vanburger. "We're encouraging homes and businesses where trees have been damaged, brought down, are hanging onto power lines, or otherwise need servicing to reach out to us as soon as possible."

Licensed and insured for liability and worker's comp, the SB Tree Service team is ready to help with tree service and removal projects of any size. For a consultation in the Gulf Coast area or any of the other cities currently being affected by Hurricane Laura, you can get in touch with them at (386) 275-3923.

"Lastly, we'd like to say we're sending our thoughts and prayers to the people of Louisiana and Texas. Stay safe out there and let's get through this, together."

About SB Tree Service

SB Tree Serviceprovides professional tree maintenance services, including tree trimming, hurricane mitigation, damage control, storm cleanup, land clearing, debris removal, stump grinding, and tree removal. With years of industry experience, a professional team, and comprehensive hurricane tree removal services, they are ready, no matter the size of the job.

Related Images

hurricane-tree-removal-services.jpg Hurricane Tree Removal Services SB Tree Services arrived in Lake Charles to provide hurricane tree removal services to homes and offices affected by Hurricane Laura.

Related Links

Ormond Beach Tree Removal

Port Orange Tree Removal

SOURCE SB Tree Service

See the original post:
Tree Removal Experts Bring Hurricane Relief Work to Texas and Louisiana - PRNewswire

The city of Brookhaven is rewriting its tree ordinance to better preserve the tree canopy something that Brookhaven Heights resident Jon Margolis said hes noticed has been declining in his neighborhood.

The rewrite aims to take out ambiguities in the current ordinance and set clear expectations that builders should try to preserve trees, Councilmember John Park said. The rewrite comes after a tree canopy study shows the citys seeing a net loss in tree coverage.

A tree on the edge of a property at 2328 Colonial Drive facing Pine Grove has a large, orange X spray painted on it. (Erin Schilling)

Park said the ordinance rewrite is a complicated balance between environmental preservation and not infringing on the rights of the property owners.

City spokesperson Burke Brennan said the city has requested proposals from consultants for the ordinance. The city is set to have a proposal awarded by October and the rewrite should start in November, along with a public input process. Park said the rewrite would have happened earlier this year but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Residents and city officials say theres a trend of developers taking down too many trees.

Margolis is worried about two large trees at the intersection of Pine Grove and Colonial Drive that have orange Xs spray painted on them. The trees are on the edge of a residential property at 2328 Colonial Drive, which is owned by Breezy Dayz Properties, LLC, according to the city property map.

I understand certain trees have to come down, but its just been horrible in metro Atlanta, Margolis said.

Allison Bible of AB Works Construction Consulting put in a variance request for the houses setbacks with the Brookhaven Board of Appeals in a Jan. 15 meeting for the 2328 Colonial Drive property on behalf of the homeowner Lisa Levison, she said. The variance was unanimously approved.

Bible told the board two trees would be removed for the proposed development, according to the meeting minutes.

A building permit has not been submitted yet for construction as of the end of August, Bible said, and the tree removal will be included in that permit request.

If we didnt have to take any trees down, we certainly wouldnt be, Bible said. In the city of Brookhaven, theres a very clear tree ordinance. If you follow it, youre following the rules, and were doing exactly what the tree ordinance states.

Bible said they plan to replant some trees as well to make up for the loss of trees and noted that tree removal is an expensive process and the life span of specific tree species have to be considered when judging whether a tree should come down or not.

Margolis said hes seen too many situations in which developers cut down trees without a good reason.

Park said a clearer tree ordinance would show builders that the city expects tree preservation to be a priority.

A new tree ordinance would hopefully give more power to the city arborist and speed up some processes regarding trees, Park said. For example, if a tree prohibits a builder from following the citys zoning ordinances, such as if the tree caused a setback variance, its easier for the builder to cut down the tree than go through a months-long rezoning process.

Park said the new ordinance may also value trees differently based on age and type.

The current tree ordinance allows homeowners on single-family residential property to remove three trees per year that are 6 inches or larger in diameter at breast height, or DBH, with a permit, as long as the property maintains a density of 60 DBH inches of trees per acre. Trees less than 6 DBH inches can be removed without a permit as long as the same density of 60 DBH inches is upheld.

Residents can also remove trees that are deemed hazardous by a certified arborist, according to the ordinance, and public utility companies can remove trees for utility easements.

Specimen trees, which are trees valued higher by the city because of size, location, type or historic value, have more protections and need to have the approval of the city arborist if a resident or developer wants to remove it, according to the ordinance. A fee is also required to take down a specimen tree.

Developers must maintain 120 inches in diameter of trees per acre or 45% of a sites tree-canopy cover unless the site already had less tree coverage than that before development started, according to the ordinance.

The tree ordinance was rewritten in 2014 and updated about a year later in 2015. The 2015 changes reduced the amount of trees homeowners could take down from five to three and outlined the current density requirements for developers.

Park said those changes werent enough.

In 2017, concerned citizens came to us saying the tree ordinance was not doing its job to protect the tree canopy, Park said. We realized a rewrite, starting from scratch, was the way to go instead of piecemealing something together.

In June, a PlainIt Geo study presented to the council said the 2019 tree canopy coverage in the city is 44%, compared to 47% in 2009. The city commissioned the assessment in part because of the planned rewrite. It also hired a tree canopy preservation manager, who Park said will oversee much of the new ordinance.

See the original post:
New Brookhaven tree ordinance is on the way amid cutting controversies - Reporter Newspapers

Representatives from Custom Tree Care and Rostan attended a Tama City Council meeting to present on services their companies could provide to the cities following the August 10 derecho. Both Tama and Toledo have now contracted with Custom Tree Care and Rostan.Allison Graham/News Chronicle

The cities of Tama and Toledo have contracted with Custom Tree Care to assist with debris clean up and tree trimming following the August 10 derecho.

Custom Tree Care will be addressing trees as well as storm debris on city right of ways.

The goal is to insure safety for the public by removing hanging limbs and heavily damaged trees that pose a current and future risk. The bulk of the contracted cost projects are to be reimbursable under the FEMA Public Assistance Program that was granted to Tama County as part of the Presidential Major Disaster Declaration on August 17.

Custom Tree Care will not go on to your property to cut trees. They will only stay on the city right of way and will cut hanging limbs, trees that have been partially uprooted and are leaning beyond a certain degree, and trees with significantly cracked trunks.

The company advises that if you have a storm damaged tree that is on the berm or overhangs the street and you wish to not have removed, to attach a sign or a note on the tree instructing it not to be cut. The company nor the city will be going door to door prior to the clean up work being completed.

Custom Tree Care will take pictures of every tree cut for reimbursement purposes.

Some of the clean up work has been contracted but every sub contractor will have a placard on their vehicle identifying themselves with Custom Tree Care.

Rostan Solutions to do FEMA reimbursement monitoring for debris management. They will provide tracking and documenting services for every FEMA reimbursable load to lessen the burden on city staff as well as to help ensure a quick and accurate reimbursement claim.

The cities anticipate receiving around 75% reimbursement. Rostan Solutions will also assist with the grant application to help cover the difference.

Work is already underway in Tama and will begin soon in Toledo.

Go here to see the original:
Tama, Toledo contract with Custom Tree Care, Rostan Solutions for tree removal and FEMA assistance - Tama News-Herald - Toledo Chronicle

When you camp at your favorite State Park or plan a hunting a trip on your local State Wildlife Area (SWA), you likely havent given a second thought to natural resources that exist on those properties. However, you will notice when those resources are taken away or are no longer there. The landscape suddenly changes and our favorite open spaces do not seem so familiar. Such is the dilemma of Parks and Wildlife Managers when they consider long term habitat management projects and the impacts on our visitors.

One such project is the wetlands restoration project at Jackson Lake State Park and neighboring Jackson Lake and Andrick Ponds SWAs. At the heart of the restoration is the removal of 60-plus acres of Russian olive trees.

The invasive species is prevalent throughout Colorado and especially in areas where water is scarce. Originating from Southern Europe and Eastern Asia, the tree was planted throughout arid areas as windbreaks and for much needed shade on the sandy Great Plains.

When permitted to grow without management, the tree will take over pasture lands and wetland areas, increasing nitrogen in the soil and allowing for other noxious weeds to take root. Growing in dense groves allows this thorny tree to out-compete native plant species and to draw large amounts of moisture from the soil and waterways. Some estimates suggest that one tree will consume 75 gallons of water per day.

Impacts to wildlife are also great. Russian olives can create some habitat and food sources for local wildlife; however, with a forestry management plan that includes a diversity of trees and plants, wildlife diversity has been shown to also increase. Owls, bats, squirrels, and migratory birds are often unable to utilize RO groves for food and habitat. In some areas, RO trees have clogged ditches, destroyed fences and grown into roadways, causing a chain effect of destruction.

The first phase of the wetlands restoration project at Jackson Lake is set to begin this fall. CPW land managers will use a phased three-year approach to address the most immediate needs such as those areas where trees have impacted infrastructure or pose a threat to property. Removal and treatment in these areas will limit large impacts on wildlife and allow for immediate replanting of native plants. Cottonwood, willow, chokecherry, plum and other native species will be planted to provide quality wildlife habitat.

Previous work on other CPW areas has shown that native species are very hardy and will rebound to fill the void created by RO removal. In most cases this creates a new opportunity for shade on your campsite or for habitat on your next hunt. While the landscape will change over time, the goal is to make your CPW lands continue to feel familiar with each visit.

Park visitors can help inform management decisions by recording observations of plants or animals through phone apps like iNaturalist. Various areas of the park may be closed during project hours; check with the Visitor Center for current closures.

Original post:
3-year project to remove Russian olive trees around Jackson Lake to begin this fall - Fort Morgan Times

More than three weeks after Isaias blew through Connecticut, cleanup continues. Tree removal crews are still catching up, working very long days.

We are running from five in the morning to eightat night. As long as there is light, we are working, said Joe Brege of B&MTree Service in West Hartford.

Now, as Thursdays forecast calls for high winds andpotentially severe thunderstorms, more work could lie ahead.

Anything that we thought that might cause a problem for tomorrow's storm or this weekend's storm that's what we are doing for the next couple of days, explained Brege.

While tree crewsprepare, some wonder about Eversource. Isaias left more than 600,000 householdswithout power, leaving some wondering if Eversource will be more prepared nexttime severe weather strikes.

Lets hope thatthey learned a lesson and that they will be, said Steve Lancor who was withoutpower for three days at his West Hartford home.

A spokesperson for Eversource said theyve seen Thursdays forecast and are preparing.

We are fully staffed. We have line workers, tree crew, support staff all ready to respond if there are outages, said Eversource spokesperson Tricia Modifica.

If needed, Eversource said they have also contracted crews from elsewhere to assist with restoring power if necessary.

They will all be prepositioned around the state in advance of the storm so theyre ready to respond to any damage caused by the weather were expecting, said Modifica.

Meanwhile, people in recently hard-hit area are also taking precautionary measures.

Grab a generator. Get the candles out. Get the matches. Put food away. Get out a cooler. Get some ice." Those are all things West Hartfords Adriana Nace said shes considering as Thursdays weather approaches.

Visit link:
Eversource Says It's Prepared For Potentially Severe Weather Thursday - NBC Connecticut

Caution tape warns of potential live wires as a fallen tree blocks the roadway of Hemlock Lane on August 8, 2020 in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Caution tape warns of potential live wires as a fallen tree blocks the roadway of Hemlock Lane on August 8, 2020 in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Photo: Matthew Brown / Hearst Connecticut Media

Caution tape warns of potential live wires as a fallen tree blocks the roadway of Hemlock Lane on August 8, 2020 in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Caution tape warns of potential live wires as a fallen tree blocks the roadway of Hemlock Lane on August 8, 2020 in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Wilton seeks sanctions as intervenor in Eversource hearing

WILTON Outraged by Eversources responses to power outages, the town of Wilton has been designated an intervenor in an upcoming hearing about the power companys actions following Tropical Storm Isaias.

As an intervenor, the town is allowed to submit evidence, put forward interrogatories, receive data and information files by other parties and intervenors, and file briefs. The town is also requesting sanctions and/or penalties against Eversource.

In our intervenor status we will be providing testimony, said First Selectwoman Lynne Vanderslice.

The hearing is being held by the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) which is investigating the storm response from Eversource Energy and the states other utility company, United Illuminating. A hearing date has not yet been scheduled.

Heavy winds from the Aug. 4 storm knocked out power for more than 800,000 Eversource customers statewide. In Wilton, 5,517 Eversource customers lost electricity 73.25 percent of the town.

It took more than a week for power to be restored to all homes in Wilton.

Upon announcing the investigation, the chair of PURA said Eversource badly underestimated the threat of the storm by preparing only for between 125,000 and 380,000 outages, far from the actual total.

Vanderslice said she plans to join other town officials and mayors who will be testifying at the hearing. We will all tell the same story of a delayed make-safe response leaving thousands of residents stranded; of Eversource crews sitting idle for hours waiting for instructions; of the lack of access to operations; and the failure of the outage-reporting system, she said.

Overall, she said, Eversource lacked communication and coordination during the power restoration process. Eversource did not coordinate with police as to where their crews were. DPW (Department of Public Works) was waiting for power crews and was ready to assist them, but no one showed up. Residents were frustrated with an inability to get information as to their power restoration, she said.

Among the relief Wilton wants from Eversource is the requirement of a Make Safe crew to be installed in the town within a certain timeframe of a storm. The town also wants an operational person assigned to Wilton who can serve as a point of contact among Eversource, the town, and its emergency services.

Vanderslice encourages Wilton residents who had problems with Eversources storm response to consider forming a grass roots advocacy group in protest.

She pointed to the success of the citizens group Hands Off Our Schools. Last year, that group, which started in Wilton, held protests and traveled to the State Capitol in buses to testify against proposed school regionalization bills. As a result, two regionalization bills died in the state legislature, while regionalization language was removed from a third one.

When residents take to the streets or take the matter into their own hands, legislators listen, Vanderslice said.

Eversource generated profits last year of $411 million from its historic Connecticut Light & Power operations.

The town can also take a more proactive approach in preventing power outages through increased tree removal in certain areas where trees are blocking power lines, Vanderslice said.

In the last few years, we have increased the towns budget for tree removals, but we need to increase it even more, she said. We need to have a discussion about our priorities in terms of what actions we are going to take about trees in order to mitigate these situations, she said.

More than 70 percent of Wilton is covered by trees, Vanderslice said, citing a report by the Western Connecticut Council of Governments (WestCOG). Thats a huge number of trees, she said.

She suggested enacting a town ordinance that would facilitate the removal of diseased or potentially dying trees, and regulate the planting of new trees within the town right of way and within a specified distance of utility wires.

If you plant a tree that can grow 40 feet high near wires, that could be a problem. While trees that grow 12 to 15 feet high pose no problem falling on wires, she said.

She plans to work on a draft of the tree ordinance with Mike Conklin, the towns director of environmental affairs and Planning Director Michael Wrinn.

pgay@wiltonbulletin.com

Here is the original post:
Wilton seeks sanctions as intervenor in Eversource hearing - The Wilton Bulletin

The story below is from ourSeptember/October 2020issue. For more stories like it,Subscribe Today. Thank you!

When Will Smith and his wife, Caitlin, landed jobs with the Roanoke Ballet Theatre, he thought their prayer was answered. Then COVID-19 struck and he remembered his great-grandfather.

Will and Caitlin Smith got what he calls a once in a lifetime opportunity with the Roanoke Ballet Theatre as part of a new professional ballet company, and there was every reason to believe the couple was set for the future.

Of course, they hadnt counted on COVID-19. And their daughter Lucy hadnt come along, either.

Now, however, theres little Lucy, social distancing, masks, a ballet company on indefinite hold and a couple of newwhether or not temporarycareers.

Will has become the Dancing Lumberjack and Caitlin has fallen back onto individual Pilates instruction. Both teach a little ballroom dancing when the opportunity arises.

The Pilates and cutting trees are not really new in the shiny sense. Caitlin has been learning and teaching Pilates for nearly three years, in addition to her ballet work, and Wills lumberjacking genes go back to his grandfather.

Will, 33, and Caitlin, 31, met when they were with a ballet company in D.C., a city with a lifestyle that Will describes as craziness. Roanoke looked ideal when the professional ballet positions were open at what had been a school and we could get in on the ground floor, he says.

The new ballet group was a challenge. The first couple years were super difficult, says Will. The ballet wasnt getting support as fast as we thought it would and the company couldnt pay us the wages we were used to in D.C., so we had to find second jobs. We both started off teaching dance, but then during the summers when my teaching would dry up, I would have to find summer work.

Will worked at Ramulose Ridge Vinyards for a couple of summers and loved it, but the commute made for very long days. He got a job with the Holiday Inn as a night auditor, another brutal schedule. Then came an opportunity with his friend Jesse Dunker with Alpha and Omega Tree removal and landscaping. Dunker has served as a mentor for Will.

Caitlin had begun teaching Pilates on the side and loved the exciting classes with a range of men and women students. Meanwhile, Will got a job teaching ballroom dancing, but everything fell apart except the tree work with COVID-19.

As I did more and more of [the tree work], I really began to not just enjoy it, but love it. The first time I climbed a tree, I felt that fear, that pressure. That little voice that tells you to quit was screaming in my head. I took a breath, dug deep and continued climbing, and I knew this was something I could do.

As a theatrical guy, Will created The Dancing lumberjack as a business [phone: 410-972-1039] and as a character. My great-grandfather was a lumberjack and he was a big, burly man. Im a skinny ballet dancer, so I wanted to take two things that seem worlds apart and put them together.

He has started a blog aiming to make it about dance, trees and everything in between. His tree work is mostly for homeowners and small businesses.

Caitlin, who has had to give up her large Pilates class for now, still teaches one-on-one. She was worried about Will climbing trees with a chain saw at first, but she finally reasoned that the risk is about the same as ballet, a sport where injury is nearly as commonand often as severeas it is in football.

Will speaks for both dancers when he says, Being a ballet dancer feeds my soul but not my pocketbook, so my goal is to work towards my arborist and climbing certification so the dancing lumberjack can feed my pocketbook.

Meanwhile, Lucy, who was born in May, has been the beneficiary of the job juggle because she has had a virtually full-time mom and a dad who gets to spend a good bit of time with her, as well.

Will is philosophical. With the future of the art of ballet and other performing arts looking a bit bleak [at least temporarily], I might have to make the trees my stage for now.

The storyabove isfrom ourSeptember/October 2020issue. For the full storysubscribetodayor view ourFREEdigital edition.Thank you for supportinglocal journalism!

Here is the original post:
The Dancing Lumberjack: Living the Dream - Roanoker