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JCP&L plans to remove more than 500 trees for Smithburg substation; company to pay replacement fee exceeding $200,000
Summary
Freehold Township commissioners were told JCP&L's Smithburg substation plan now lists about 517 trees to be removed (earlier counts showed 422), with 15 later excluded for condition; JCP&L will provide a tree-replacement payment of more than $200,000 under township standards.
Greg Hanley briefed the Freehold Township Shade Tree Commission on the JCP&L Smithburg substation project, saying recent plans show a substantially larger tree removal than earlier estimates.
Hanley said the final plans originally noted 422 trees for removal but that the accurate count is about 517; 15 trees were later eliminated from the removal list because of poor condition. He said the utility will satisfy stormwater-management replacement standards that call for replacement trees of 6 inches in DBH where required. Hanley told the commission that JCP&L will provide a payment of more than $200,000 to cover replacement obligations.
The commission noted this matter had been on record and that related motions were made in a previous Shade Tree Commission meeting; no new formal action was recorded on Feb. 4. Commissioners raised concern about accurate counting and condition assessments when large-scale removals affect public and riparian corridors.
The meeting did not record additional technical details about where replacement planting will occur, the schedule for removals, or the precise calculation used for the replacement payment. Those specifics were not provided in the meeting minutes and remain not specified.
The commission moved on to other agenda items after the update; no vote on this project was taken at the Feb. 4 meeting.
