‘Vegetation Maintenance’ Sweep in Mahwah Meant to Curb Power Outages

A maintenance program set to start next week will help address the leading cause of power outages in Mahwah, officials said.

The township received notice last week that Orange & Rockland will be conducting its periodic ‘Distribution Line Clearance Program’ in Mahwah for about a month starting on May 20.

According to a letter O&R sent to the township, its crews will “cut back trees that are touching lines or which have the potential to interfere with the wires,” and remove dead trees and underbrush. The “vegetation maintenance” program is in an effort to reduce the number of power outages caused by interference from tree limbs, which the utility said is the most frequent cause of power outages in the township.

O&R is planning tree clearing along the following roadways:

• Campgaw Road
• Youngs Road
• Fardale Avenue
• Walnut Street
• Darlington Avenue
• Ramapo Valley Road
• Ridge Road
• MacArthur Boulevard

The utility conducts routine tree maintenance in four-year cycles, so barring any emergencies, these roadways likely won’t see O&R tree-cutting crews again until 2017.

Mayor Bill Laforet, who said his office received notice of the program last week, said he is hopeful that the program will help curb outages during both routine and severe storms.

“We are glad to see Orange and Rockland addressing preventative measures to avoid the issues we faced with Sandy,” he said. “This is a proactive program that is good for our community, which could avoid power outages.”

O&R has contracted Lewis Tree Service to carry out the work. The utility plans to notify any homeowners who may be affected by the four-week work period.

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