Flower Mound trees are vanishing in a construction nightmare
FLOWER MOUND - They were told it was just some tree trimming.
But folks in Flower Mound say it turned into a lot more and ruined the look of their neighborhood.
"We bought the house to be in a community that had trees," Deb Wyse said.
Wyse says only a few months after moving into her dream environment she woke up to a nightmare.
"Where we used to have this beautiful canopy of trees we now just have these huge poles," said Wyse.
Those poles are part of a construction project to install new Oncor power lines on High Road in Flower Mound.
Upset residents met with City Councilman Brian Taylor on Monday to express their concerns about dozens of mature trees that were either severely trimmed or in some cases cut down completely.
"That's our question," said Flower Mound resident John Van Winkle. "We want to know who is to blame."
Oncor says it notified residents with door hangars but admits that those residents may not have been aware of how extensive the project would be.
"Unlike other projects, this work is not part of routine maintenance trimming. Instead, it is a construction project focused on upgrading the power lines to improve service reliability," Oncor's Kerri Dunn said in a statement to CBS News Texas. "We apologize that the necessary tree trimming was not made clearer to every resident and that more time was not provided to address residents' concerns. We are currently reviewing our notification protocols."
"It's all gone," said Martha Canant. "It's completely gone."
Canant says the canopy of large oak trees that offered shade and sound protection from passing traffic behind her backyard has been replaced by the harsh sight of new power poles and a large transformer that will soon be operational.
"I am afraid of what it's going to sound like," Canant said.
Oncor insists that city officials were informed about the tree removal beforehand. It's offering assistance to residents if they want help finding other options for replacement trees that won't interfere with the high-voltage wires.