CLEVELAND — Cleveland was once nicknamed "The Forest City" for the city's many trees.
Today, Cleveland Councilman Brian Kazy, Ward 16, said the city has earned a new nickname: "Pole City USA."
"We do have an overabundance of [utility] poles that are a hazard," Kazy said during a Utilities Committee meeting Thursday afternoon.
The hearing with representatives from Cleveland Public Power, FirstEnergy, AT&T, and Spectrum was to discuss their response to power outages and damage to power lines and trees caused by five tornadoes and a macroburst that left widespread damage across Northeast Ohio on Aug. 6.
Kazy said it also exposed the proliferation of utility poles around Cleveland. He said there are too many utility poles lining the city's streets, and many of the poles look bad —some are even dangerous.
"We do have an overabundance of poles that are a hazard to not only the neighborhoods but to residents, people walking by," he said. "As you saw in the presentation today, some poles are just barely hanging on and its about time that we get all the utility companies, no matter who owns them, to start finally addressing these eyesores."
The companies agreed to be part of a working group to reduce the duplication of utility poles around the city and replace utility poles that are damaged or in need of repair.
Council members also discussed the need to increase tree trimming and tree removal on the city's streets.
Over a month after the storm, a News 5 crew still found fallen trees blocking a sidewalk and endangering power lines on Torbenson Drive Wednesday afternoon.
The resident did not want to appear on camera but told us the City of Cleveland told her it could take up to 45 days to remove the debris.
"We need vegetation maintenance in this city like never before," Kazy said.
Martin Keane, Director of Public Utilities, acknowledged Cleveland needs to collaborate with FirstEnergy to better maintain the city's trees.
"That's a big part of what we need to do better across all of the utilities here," he said. "That's not just a City of Cleveland problem or a CPP problem."
The power companies also discussed how long it took to restore power after the Aug. 6 storms. Cleveland Public Power said 95% of the over 36-thousand residents who lost power had service restored within four days.
FirstEnergy officials said nearly 500,000 customers lost power, but 85% had it restored within 100 hours.
