EAST AURORA, N.Y. (WKBW) — One by one and limb by limb trees are being trimmed in the Village of East Aurora, altering the landscape of this quaint community.
That's because a fiber-optic internet company, GoNetspeed, is putting lines throughout the village adding them to each pole and trimming trees in the process.
The village must allow this to happen because the work is permitted by state and federal law.
But it's not sitting right with residents.
"This is our front door. Yesterday, our front door was chopped down, basically, and we're known as a tree-lined beautiful village, and they're taking that away from us when they don't even have to," Holly Maciejewski said. "I want our village saved from this."
"It seems like the majority of the village residents would oppose any of this new service coming in. And it's incredibly frustrating that not even the village admin, or, you know, any of the village residents have any say in any of this project whatsoever," Joseph White said.
"There must be a gentler way to do this. There's got to be a gentler way. And maybe it means you turn more often, because you take a little bit at a time instead of doing this drastic thing," Rick Ohler said. "I think what we need to do is what we're doing today, we need to make a little noise. It's okay. It's okay to make a little noise."
"That's hazardous for people walking, and then people in cars," Zach said.
Village Administrator Shane Krieger told me despite the trimming the village budgets yearly for new trees and has plans to plant more this spring with the help from GoNetspeed.
"We're limited on what we can do, but we're trying, you know, under whatever laws we can use to do what, what is best for the village," Krieger said.
He said the village attorney is exploring all legal options to protect the trees.
GoNetspeed sent the following statement about the concerns:
As GoNetspeed prepares to connect the Village of East Aurora with 100% fiber internet, we have worked closely with the Village, NYSEG, and O’Connell Electric to prepare. As required by NYSEG, occasional tree trimming and pole replacements must be made through their Third-party attachment process. Together, we are taking every measure we can to ensure that as much vegetation is protected as possible, according to the requirements given by the National Electric Safety Code.
For those with questions regarding current activity including tree trimming and pole replacements please contact NYSEG.
Ultimately, GoNetspeed is working diligently to bring East Aurorans access to 100% fiber internet to further improve the online experience, whether it be for work, school, or play. We expect to officially begin deploying our network by the end of this month.
