The Athens City Council promised to look into a problem that has left one Athens homeowner with “butchered” trees that he says will now die due to the cuts being made too close to the trunk of the trees.

When Allynn Griffin arrived to his Pryor Street home last Friday afternoon, he found his six cedar trees had been severely cut back by a subcontractor for Charter Communications/Spectrum and the debris left in his yard. Griffin has lived in the home for the past 13 years. His grandparents bought the property in the 1950s, and Griffin said the trees have been there as long as he can remember.

“I have been in touch with Spectrum, and they have sent someone out to start an investigation. Long story short, my trees are going to die,” Griffin told the council.

Griffin learned during his research that the franchise agreement the city has with Spectrum is the same one put in place in 1988.

“There are differences in what the municipal code says and what is in this franchise agreement. One of the things I also found is as of Aug. 1, 2019, if there is nothing listed in the franchise agreement regarding the cutting of trees on people’s property — and there’s not in the agreement that I have — the electric department is supposed to send out notifications to property owners if they are going to cut your trees. I never got any type of notification at all,” Griffin said.

Griffin told the council that if he had been notified, he would have had the trees trimmed properly to facilitate their request.

“It’s ridiculous that whoever is in charge with keeping up with this kind of stuff is not doing their job, whoever that is,” he said. “I don’t know who is charge of this or how they get away with it but I am not happy about it. If Spectrum can’t come up with a solution that I am not happy with, my only alternative is to sue. I know that y’all have absolved yourself of any of that per your contract, however, that 2019 law says I should have been notified if there is nothing in the franchise contract.”

Mayor Ronnie Marks responded, “Allynn is right. I went by there today, and they butchered it. I am not sure if Charter is contacting us and that is something we need to check on, because he isn’t the only one this has happened to. It looks bad and I don’t blame Allynn for being upset.”

The Athens City Council also conducted the following business at their Monday, Sept. 11, meeting.

The council held a public hearing related to the zoning approval for the sale of alcohol in the City of Athens by Ro’s Grille, 126 North Jefferson St., Athens. The matter was not voted on at Monday’s meeting.

Consent calendar

• Reappoint Larry Burlingame to the Board of Equalization for a four year term, expiring on Oct. 1, 2027.

• Approve travel/education expenses for personnel of the Customer Accounts Department.

• Approve travel/education expenses for personnel of the Water Services Department.

• Approve the purchase of a London Fog UVL mosquito sprayer from Veseris for the Public Works Department.

• Approve the construction of an equipment shed for the Wastewater Collection Division of Water Services and authorize the Water Services Director to enter into a contract with Summertown Metals, LLC for the construction.

Regular meeting

• Authorize the Electric Department Manager, contingent upon receipt of payment or purchase order from the City of Decatur or its authorized agent, to award the Contract 1- Horton House Move to Taylor Electric, Inc.

• Allow the city to apply for the SMART Stage ‘1, Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation, federal grants program.

• Allow the City Engineer to enter into an agreement with Kimley-Horn for the purpose of applying for the SMART grant.