HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP, Ohio — Gilberto Crespo has been a Hinckley Township homeowner for 28 years but said he's never seen anything like the massive tree trunk that's been leaning over a busy State Route 606 for the past several months.
Crespo showed News 5 how the huge leaning tree trunk is perched over a series of communications lines near the intersection of Stony Hill Road. Crespo said he contacted several agencies about the potential hazard, but after weeks of effort, he still can't get any answers as to who is responsible for initiating a clean-up.
“I go around the other side of the lane a little bit to make sure it doesn’t fall on my car, Crespo said. "It’s scary, it really is, and we get some crazy winds out here that can blow that trunk down easily.”
Crespo said he contacted the Hinckley Township Trustees, and they quickly responded in the search for answers.
“He called ODOT, he thought it was ODOT’s problem, so I called ODOT and they said it wasn’t their problem," Crespo said. "So I called Spectrum and they said it wasn’t their problem either. My main concern is just the tree, I don’t care of who takes care of it."
Hinckley Township homeowner Russell Schellenberger shared similar safety concerns and told News 5 he was left confused when a tree removal crew responded to the scene several weeks ago and failed to remove the leaning tree trunk.
“I was amazed that when they first came out and the tree fell over and came against the line, they cut off the top and they did not bring the stem of the tree to the ground and now left it as a safety issue," Schellenberger said. “And I’m concerned that because of the fact that if that tree falls to the road someone is going to get injured.”
News 5 contacted both ODOT and Spectrum Cable and they both confirmed the tree was not in their jurisdiction. News 5 also contacted AT&T, which also has service lines in the neighborhood, but it's still not clear if the tree trunk is on a homeowner's property or whether the issue is the responsibility of a utility service provider.
AT&T responded immediately and said it was looking into the situation.
The Hinckley Township Trustees Office told News 5 that traditionally when trees and utility lines are involved, it's often a situation where the homeowner and the utility provider work out a solution.
Meanwhile, Crespo is hoping the tree stump will be taken down as soon as possible.
“My main concern is just the tree; I don’t care of who takes care of it, Crespo said. "It’s a bad accident waiting to happen and you get a lot of traffic through here.”
News 5 will follow through oin this developing story.
