Trees To Be Trimmed in Bernards Township

Basking Ridge, NJ -- Trees along power lines in Bernards Township will get a trimming beginning in early May, Rob Walton with JCP&L announced at the committee meeting Tuesday night.

Specifically the trimming will begin at the Lyons substation on Stonehouse Road and at the Dead River substation, as part of vegetation management. In addition, customers living in areas along company rights-of-way are notified prior to work being performed.

The standard for tree trimming has changed this year versus in prior years. Previously the trees were trimmed if they were within 15-feet of the power lines. Now the trees will be trimmed if they are within 15-feet of the power lines and anything above the lines going toward the sky, the representative stated at the meeting.

This will eliminate any limbs hanging over the lines, Walton said.

"Jersey Central Power & Light (JCP&L) is continuing its 2016 tree trimming program to help maintain proper clearances around electrical equipment and help prevent tree-related damage," the power company stated in a release. "The work is part of JCP&L's approximately $28 million tree trimming program scheduled for this year along some 3,400 miles of JCP&L lines across its 13-county service area in northern and central New Jersey."

The trimming program is done every four years and helps to reduce outages in the area.

"In 2015, we saw an 11 percent decrease in tree-related outages compared to the previous year," stated Anthony Hurley, JCP&L vice president of Operations.

Along with Bernards Township, tree trimming will be completed in 70 municipalities including Bernardsville and Far Hills for Somerset County.

Here is a full list of municipalities where tree trimming will be conducted:

• Burlington – Chesterfield Township, North Hanover Township, Pemberton Township and Wrightstown Borough
• Hunterdon – Bethlehem Township, Clinton Township, Franklin Township, Holland Township, Lebanon Township, Raritan Township, Readington Township and Tewksbury Township
• Mercer – Hopewell Township, Robbinsville Township and West Windsor Township
• Middlesex – Cranbury Township, Borough of Jamesburg, Monroe Township, Old Bridge Township, Sayreville Borough and Borough of Spotswood
• Monmouth – Aberdeen Township, Borough of Allenhurst, City of Asbury Park, Borough of Atlantic Highlands, Borough of Bradley Beach, Borough of Englishtown, Freehold Township, Township of Hazlet, Holmdel Township, Howell Township, Borough of Interlaken, Manalapan Township, Borough of Manasquan, Marlboro Township, Borough of Matawan, Middletown Township, Neptune Township, Ocean Township, Borough of Red Bank, Borough of Sea Girt, Tinton Falls Township and Wall Township
• Morris – Borough of Chatham, Chatham Township, Borough of Chester, Chester Township, Denville Township, Hanover Township, Harding Township, Mine Hill Township, Borough of Mount Arlington, Borough of Morris Plains, Town of Morristown, Borough of Mountain Lakes, Parsippany Troy-Hills Township, Randolph Township, Roxbury Township and Washington Township
• Ocean – Borough of Bay Head, Borough of Beachwood, Berkeley Township, Brick Township, Borough of Island Heights, Jackson Township, Lacey Township, Lakehurst Township, Lakewood Township, Manchester Township, Borough of Point Pleasant, Plumsted Township, Township of Toms River, and Borough of South Toms River.
• Passaic – Borough of Ringwood and Borough of Wanaque
• Somerset – Bernards Township, Borough of Bernardsville and Borough of Far Hills
• Sussex – Andover Township, Frankford Township, Green Township, Montague Township, Sandyston Township and Stillwater Township
• Union – Borough of New Providence
• Warren – Allamuchy Township, Blairstown Township, Hackettstown, Hope Township, Independence Township and Washington Township

(Photo, JCP&L Facebook)