Duke Energy Tree Trimming Information

At our CHNA meeting on 13 May, representatives from Duke Energy presented their plan to prune trees for one of the circuits running through Converse Heights.

• This activity affects Duke Energy circuit 60060404 which starts behind Grace Management on Pine St and runs north along the Norfolk Southern railroad. There are about 412 houses affected. You may be affected if you live on Glendalyn Cir, Brentwood, Hollywood, Westminster, Canterbury, Eastwood Cir, Carrington, Woodburn, south end of Connecticut, Fairview Ext, Sylvan, Riverside, Springdale, Briarwood, Scenic, Peachtree, Hillview, and the east end of Palmetto.
• The purpose is to prevent and shorten the duration of outages - the average length of outages along this circuit is much longer than average recently. Those of us who are serviced by this circuit will certainly agree that there have been many long term outages recently!
• Crews plan to begin at the end of May pruning and removing trees along the portion of the line between the substation and the neighborhood. The second phase of pruning and removing trees in yards will commence later, probably in fall.
• This summer or fall, crews will mark with tape the trees that need to be pruned or removed. They will leave information on your door after they mark any trees on your property. You are encouraged to call them to discuss the specific plans - they will schedule a time to come to your house and discuss with you on-site. If you do not call them, then the assumption will be that you agree to the plan and after some time they will come back to execute it. If they don't identify any trees that need pruning or removal in your yard, then no packet will be left on your door.
• If the crews recomend to remove a tree and you discuss it with them and agree, then they will ask you to sign a permission form that states that you agree with the plan. If you do not agree with the proposal to remove a tree, then the tree will be pruned instead. They have the legal ability to prune trees against your consent, but not to remove trees against your consent. Again, if you do not contact them when the yard is marked and informaton is left on your door, then they will assume you agree to the plan.
• They do utility pruning, not horticultural pruning. So it would be possible to have a very lopsided tre after the pruning. Again, when the material is left at your door, your encouraged to call and discuss the plan.
• The debris from pruning will be chipped and hauled off.
• Trees that are cut down will be chipped as possible. However the portion of the tree that cannot be chipped due to thickness will be cut into lengths - you can specify the length you want when you contact them as discussed above - and left at the site of the tree. They will not haul off this wood. They will not grind the stumps, either.
• Pruning will strictly follow ANSI 133 - this is the industry standard for horticultural and utility pruning. They will not leave lateral stubs, etc.

Beautification Proposal for Railroad Overpass at Connecticut Ave. and Woodburn Rd.

At the last CHNA Board meeting, your Directors decided to apply for a Neighborhood Grant with the City of Spartanburg.  If we are successful in getting the Grant, we would like to begin a process of landscaping the Norfolk Southern RR Overpass at the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Woodburn Road.We have a planting plan out for bids, and we have applied for permission from Norfolk Southern.We feel that this is an important area for Converse Heights since it gets heavy road traffic, protects our natural ravine area, and is very visible for foot and bike traffic.Please consider these plans. Then visit our Facebook page, email a Director, or drop us a line and let us know if you think this is a good idea or not. We need your comments by May 16. Thank you!

Welcome Message From Chairperson

Safe, beautiful, and fun.

Welcome to the website of the Converse Heights Neighborhood Association, or CHNA for short - if you’re new to Converse Heights, welcome to the neighborhood as well.

Our mission is to make (and to keep) Converse Heights safe, beautiful, and fun, and we want to enlist the help of every neighbor in that pursuit. To have a safe place to live, you need to know the people who live around you, and we provide several “get-together opportunities” each year where all neighbors are invited. We conduct annual tree plantings, we look for good neighborhood projects to support, and we plant and maintain the entrances to Converse Heights to enhance its beauty. And for fun, we have miles of side-walks, Happy Hollow Park, front porches, block parties, and lots of friendly people. We also maintain an excellent partnership with the City of Spartanburg. Please enjoy our website, like us on Facebook, give us your good ideas, ask us questions, and please join your neighbors as members of the Neighborhood Association.

Thank You!
The Board of Directors of the Converse Heights Neighborhood Association