[Trees-executive] Summary

Wed Apr 11 14:54:53 CDT 2001

Laura and I meet with Gretchen Knapp and Ed Jelkes on Friday at 1 pm in Normal

We discussed our plans for the meeting as one that we wanted 
information on where IP is, was and is going.

We decided that Ed would start with some clarifications on 
communications and who in IP does what.

Following that I would be the primary communicator as far a questions 
were concerned.
------------------------------------------------------------
At 2 pm Peter Milberg arrived.

We all introduced our selves.

Peter Milberg asked to give an initial statement that basically said

He was here to ask about the April; 10 meeting
He was here and will be at the April 10 meeting to listen to concerns
He anticipated that there may be multiple meetings
Again he was here to gain information so as to go to IP to explain 
our concerns.
___________________________

Ed started with the two aspects he was concerned with .
He asked IP (Milberg) if they were open to different meeting formats 
(i.e. large group, small group, public etc.)  Milberg said yes
Asked for information on the Rutherford meetings
Would IP consider suggesting that IPCUTSOT be admitted at least as an 
respectful observer?  He said he would discuss this with IP's legal 
team and get back to us via e-mail

The who does what question.
Peter Milberg is "Director of Large Accounts, such as UIUC, State 
Farm etc.  He was chosen due to his familiarity with the issue (Veg 
Management)

Peter Milberg went on to say their (IP's) focus is/was/will be on 
Safe and reliable service.
Mentioned  court cases saying the IP is "ultimately responsible for 
operation of an energy system".  Talked of the "Horror story" of 
Galva Il, where a 10 year old boy lost an arm after climbing a 
conifer and grabbing a powerline.  He was burned badly enough to lose 
his arm.  They (the family) sued the power company (Not IP) and were 
found at fault.  This was in spite of initially asking the family to 
cut the conifer as it was near powerlines, the family objecting, and 
the family signing an agreement NOT to hold the power company at 
fault.  Thus the moral of the story is that a power company cannot 
allow an individual the right to prevent tree trimming/removal 
because they will still be legally libel for any consequence to that 
lack of tree trimming/removal.  Milberg said they would need to be 
guaranteed that they would not be liable in order to agree to 
owner/municipalities veto power over tree trimming/removal.
Further that other power companies (i.e. CILCO) have been sited for 
lack of trimming as another legal reason IP HAS to aggressively 
pursue tree trimming/removal.

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I then began the question/answer portion of the talk.  I am getting a 
transcript so I will try to summarize, but this will be incomplete at 
the very least.
I began by asking if we could agree to a common goal.  Milberg said yes
The goal I said was "We both want safe and reliable electrical power 
with the minimal impact on trees and vegetation."   Peter Milberg 
agreed to that as a common goal.

I said that many of my questions included a historical perspective 
such as what happened in , 2000 (current), 1995, and 1990.  This 
provides for observation of changes over the past 10 years.  Milberg 
stated this was fine if they (IP) has that info.
(Answers are in bold, my comments aside are in italics)
====================================
1) Easements.
	Does the company plan to extend their easements beyond those 
currently enjoyed?
Yes they do, except where there is case law that provides them an 
out.  Milberg will send us the description of that case law.  An 
example Milberg referred to was CILCO's case recently.
====================================
2) Pruning cycles
	Time (years) between cycles in 2000, 1995 and 1990
2000-3-4 years.  1995-3-4 years. and 1990 Don't know, will find out.
	Proposed time (years) between cycles.
3-4 years
	What was the most economical cycle 2000, 1995, 1990
Don't know, will find out.
	What parameters are/will be used to determine cycle length 
2000, 1995, 1990
Internal, my notes here are to cryptic to transcribe.  I relied on 
the fact we were taping and Gretchen was taking shorthand.
====================================
3) Cost of Tree trimming
	Costs for Vegetation management in 2000, 1995 and 1990
2000-$12M, 1995 - Don't know, will find out, 1990 - Don't know, will find out.
	% of company's overall maintenance costs for 2000, 1995 and 1990
Don't know, will find out.
		% of companies overall revenues for 2000, 1995 and 1990
Don't know, will find out.
====================================
4) Outages for company over all.
Milberg spoke of a system they started in 1995 called Trouble Outage 
System that they (IP) use to track outages, time, reason etc.  It has 
only been reliable since 1998.  He will use that to look at the 
following.  I asked that he also look into archived resources for the 
pre 1998 data.  he said he would
	Outages for Champaign county
Don't know, will find out.
	Outages for McClean county
Don't know, will find out.
	% of outages that are tree related for 2000, 1995 and 1990
Don't know, will find out.
	% of outages that are storm related for 2000, 1995 and 1990
Don't know, will find out.
====================================
5) Pruning Practices.
	Topping
		Is/was this used in 2000, 1995, 1990
2000 - not used , 1995 - Don't know, will find out, 1990 - Common
		If so for which kind of  trees in 2000, 1995, 1990
Don't know, will find out if data is available
		IF so how many trees were topped in 2000, 1995, 1990
Don't know, will find out
		What are the specific directions to tree contractors 
(i.e. Davies etal) on this topic?
Uses OSHA, ANSI, ISA and Shigo's book

	Removal of ALL branches above any power lines
		Was this a common practice in 2000, 1995, 1990
2000 - yes, 1995 - yes, 1990 - Don't know, will find out
		Was this an allowed practice in 2000, 1995, 1990
2000 - yes, 1995 - yes, 1990 - Don't know, will find out
		Was this ever practiced in 2000, 1995, 1990

	Are through trees allowed in 2000, 1995, 1990
Milberg asked what these were.  I said "an area the wires can pass 
through a tree with branches all around, such as they were on Vine in 
Urbana, prior to the most recent (60 days) tree trimming occurrence. 
Milberg said they are not allowed.
	Distances from wires to branches
Will not put this in a tariff.  It was asked about Maximum Practical 
Clearance, Minimum Practical Clearance.  Answer was that Minimum 
Practical Clearance resulted in "unnecessary" tree removal.
As a note from me we should ask Mike Brunk or another arborist for 
their position on this issue of Minimum Practical Clearance, and 
Maximum  Practical Clearance

At this point the hour was almost gone so I skipped to
====================================
7) Heritage trees
	Are heritage trees taken into account in the new tariff?
IP is open to including these trees in their tariff.
	Who determines?
Indeed who determines these?  Steps need to spelled out to be 
followed to identify these.  Additionally who will pay the "extra" 
costs associated with special treatment for these trees?
	======================================
At this point we ran out of time.  I asked Peter Milberg to take the 
list of questions (all 13) and compile answers to these questions. 
He asked to be given a (1) week to two (2) weeks to get this 
responses.  I will e-mail him this week to ask were he is at.
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