KU raised hackles across the city with its controversial vegetation management plan, which residents complained went overboard in cutting and trimming local trees. While the company argued the plan was necessary to keep power lines safe, the pushback was loud enough that the city eventually sued to block the cutting while it worked on a compromise plan.
Thursday night, the council easily approved a joint resolution that will alter the tree-cutting policy, dropping the lawsuit.
The new plan, which KU says will save about half of the trees targeted for removal under the previous plan, didn’t go as far as some residents wanted. The council heard from one speaker, who even cited the reimbursement proposal for a specific tree.
"The appraised replacement value is $28,000. The depreciated value is $700. KU has offered $300. That's a wide gap between those two," he said.
But another resident involved in the issue, Matt Harrison, told KU he’s grateful the process yielded results.
"You've listened, you've worked hard, and we've made some progress. So I think we have something better for Lexington than we did originally."Matt Harrison, Lexington resident
Mayor Linda Gorton applauded the compromise, saying the goal is to both preserve the electric grid and “protect our trees and the beauty of our neighborhoods.”
