County up a tree with tree response

In mid-march of this year the Tulare County Resource Management Agency brought a crew of prisoners from Mountain Home to my property frontage, my woods, on Balch Park Road, gave them chainsaws and said go for it.

You can imagine the destruction, the mess that was left: a beautiful blooming Red Bud cut down plus many other oak, buckeye, sycamore, etc.

I don’t know what the agreement is between Mountain Home and the county but I’m tired of them hacking and destroying my property frontage just to give these prisoners an outing. The county will say it’s to enhance public safety on the roadway, but why do they go so far off the road, in some places, 29 feet from the edge? Was the Red Bud a distraction? What about the huge oak branches that hang over the roadways and eventually break and fall, blocking the road or worse yet almost kill someone? Why dont’ they remove those?

I asked them why don’t you protect the public and use tax dollars to remove those dangers? I also pointed out to them the 4 30 to 40 foot-long jack-knifed sycamore branches near the Milo Bridge that were likely to fall on the road causing damage or death to the people in cars going by. I suggested they remove them before they fall. No they said, can’t do that as they’re on private property (barely). They say removing brush is helpful, but not the removal of dead trees and jack-knifed tree limbs or huge overhanging limbs in close proximity.

Yup, your tax dollars at work.... Not!

After their visit in mid-march, they failed to clean up the mess they left and I called to ask when. One day in May a supervisor appeared to see if his crew had cleaned up the mess. We both walked and looked. No it was still a disaster. So I suggested they come back. Nothing happened. So I filed a claim against the county for the damage done to my property as well as the mess that was left.

Their response: they sent a 3-man survey team to plot out their right of way vs. my property line along Balch Park Road. Then the survey team returned 5 days later to put their little pink flagged stakes in the ground.

July 2 four county employees, including the head of RMA and the head of its Risk Management Division came out to visit the site and talk to me about the damage as referenced in my claim. They agreed there was still substantial clean up that needed to be done and more brush needed to be removed but no they weren’t going to touch the jack-knifed trees nor any of the substantial oak branches hovering over the road way, some nearly to the opposite side of the road.

Then the head of the Risk Management Division pointed at this small, 5 inches in diameter oak tree on my fence line and said we’ll cut that down too. I objected saying it wasn’t a problem, it’s just a baby tree.

She said, well someday it will be a problem. I said Some Day, but we’ll all be in our graves by then. But why not take care of the trees that are problems RIGHT NOW?! If they don’t have the equipment then rent it or hire a private company that does, rather than these employees who aren’t trained to do this sort of work.

So August 7 the county sent 9 ,(NINE!) employees to do this badly needed cleanup from the mess in March! They had 2 employees at either end of the 2/10 of a mile to direct traffic, 2 to cut the brush with chain saws, 2 to feed the chipper, and 2-3 who just watched the others work. I sat in my lawn chair by the road and watched.

Not sure on the number of vehicles, but one county pickup hauled the signs to halt/slow traffic, one county pickup hauled the porta-potty, a huge truck hauled the chipper, another county truck had the chainsaws and other equipment in it and a few others for the supervisors who watched. Your tax dollars at work!

Then they decided to cut the little tree down on the fence line and I said NO! and stood next to the tree. They told me to get away from the tree several times or they would call the sheriff, which they did. By the time the deputy sheriff arrived I had parked my pickup next to the tree so they couldn’t access it. They told the sheriff whatever and he then came and told me they need to cut that tree down so you need to move your truck.

I said no they don’t NEED to cut the little tree down, they WANT to cut the tree down to spite me for making them clean up their mess. I pointed out to the deputy the dead and huge tree branches over the road that were dangerous and needed to be cut down but that they had refused....... RISK Management had refused.

He then went back to the county group assembled on the side of the road and asked them to leave for the day as I had a call in to the Board of Supervisors. The deputy then came back to me to tell me they were going to leave but there was nothing he could do if they snuck back up here and cut the tree down. I thanked him for his help and everyone went away.

September 5, I received a “Courtesy Notice” from RMA stating they will be out to cut down my little tree (no date given) claiming it has overhanging branches and is a threat to adjacent power lines. FYI it has NO overhanging branches nor is it adjacent to any power lines. They even attached a satellite picture with the notice that shows the tree not even on the roadway at all!

But this same picture does show lots of trees hanging over the road almost to the other side. They should have been embarrassed to even enclose the picture. In fact the power company had already come up this summer previous to the county and trimmed any trees it deemed dangerous. In this same courtesy notice, I was threatened with imprisonment and a $1,000 fine if I try to stop them from cutting this little tree down.

Trees clean the air, provide nesting for birds, habitat for other animals, food, shade and beauty. They add to the scenery when on a drive in the country. Have we not lost enough trees, in the millions. to the drought? to the bark beetle? to the horrific fires?

So at some point they will spend Taxpayer Dollars to bring a crew up once again for the sole purpose of cutting down my little tree. Just think of the TAX DOLLARS WASTED on this entire several-month enterprise: mid March convicts and chainsaws and county employees watching them, May a county work crew to clean up (unsuccessfully), 2 days in June a 3-man survey team — bet that cost a bundle, July 2 four county employees to come have a look at the damage and the pink stakes, Aug 18 NINE employees, 9, to do the clean up and truthfully, it’s still a mess.

Think of the man hour costs for all of those employees multiplied by the hours they have been at this site plus the equipment and fuel costs. Just thought all of you taxpayers should know how your tax dollars are spent by the Resource Management Agency and its poorly named Risk Management Division.

P.S. Incredibly/incredulously they did SNEAK up while we were on mandatory evacuation (Sept ember 13-24). And took my tree. Figured they’d cut it like they did all the others but no they dug it up!!! How spiteful is that?