An “06880” reader who lives on Highwood Lane — which connects Highwood Road and Cavalry Road, near Newtown Turnpike — reports:
Highwood Lane has been blocked by a fallen tree since last Thursday, and no one is willing to take responsibility to clear it.
The tree is leaning heavily on utility lines running from pole to pole but the neighbors haven’t lost power, cable or phone — and that’s part of the problem.
CL&P says the tree is not on their lines, Cablevision says they don’t have the equipment to remove it, the Town of Westport says it’s a private road so they have no responsibility, and the private tree companies say they won’t touch it since it’s resting on utility lines.
The neighbors are running out of options, and wondering what good is paying property taxes to Westport. Day 6 and counting…
“06880” readers are never short on suggestions. Please keep them serious, realistic, and PG-rated.
I live on a private road (Webb Road) and sorry, but yes, when something like this happens the road association has to handle it – and pay for it. They’ve got to get a tree company to agree to meet Cablevision there, but actually pay the private company to do the work. They need to find someone in authority at Cablevision. Our very well-organized Webb Road Association, supported by member dues, has to handle many costs ourselves, often including items like tree removal, landscaping, and (this week on Webb Road – come take a look) a very expensive road re-grading, paving, and speedbump repair. Don’t blame the town.
& get a good, experienced private company, not a chop shop. If someone from Highwood Lane wants to put contact info in a response, I can contact you directly with an idea or two.
They still need CL&P to handle the live lines, though a good tree company probably has connections.
Westport has a large number of private raod associations. At one time some effort was made to have the boards meet each other to share ideas, but I don’t know what happened.
The tree is gone … we’re not exactly sure who took it down (possibly AT&T) but I’d like to thank Gordon Joseloff for his rapid response and personal involvement.
And thank you to Jessica, John and Laz for their suggestions on the blog. I think a meeting of private road associations is a great idea. I’d be happy to try to make that happen. Send me whatever contact info you have — lperlste@yahoo.com
I think the town has a list or map of all the private roads. They may not have the contact info for each association, but it shouldn’t be hard to find. Saugatuck Island and the Compo Beach association are the biggest, and there are probably several streets with 3 families with an agreement to share the plowing expenses.
If you create an association which performs duties that the municipality is normally responsible for, such as road repair, plowing, etc., the members may be able to deduct them for Federal and State taxes. Consult with your tax advisor on how to set up the association and eligible deductions.