Brad Rix is trying to get FortisBC to, at least, talk to him about plans to keep his tree from touching power lines.

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

Brad Rix had a simple and cost-effective deal with FortisBC five years ago to save his 17-metre-tall Linden tree from repeated severe prunings.

Last week the price skyrocketed to 11 times more than the original quote from the power company.

“In 2018 it was brought to our attention that Fortis would like to extend the distance from the high voltage wire further than it is presently,” Rix said in an email to iNFOnews.ca. “As a result, they went ahead and brushed the Linden to the trunk and to the point where we did not know if it would survive.”

Rix, a former FortisBC lineman, bought his house on Johnson Road in the Hall Road subdivision in 1987. It was built in the 1970s so he figures the Linden tree was planted then, making it about 50 years old.

As a former lineman, he’s well aware of the need to clear vegetation away from power lines so, in 2018, he met with Fortis staff on site to talk about options to such heavy, and potentially fatal, pruning.

The solution offered was an alley arm – a braced arm bolted to the power pole that would move the line towards the street and away from the tree.

“Fortis told me I would be responsible for paying the full cost ($3,728.43) towards the alley arm solution,” Rix wrote in his email. “I argued (to no avail), that Fortis should contribute a portion of the cost. When I agreed to pay the full cost, Fortis told me to hold off and see how the tree would react to the brushing. I was concerned at this point that the manner in which the brushing had been done could kill the tree.”

Four years later, in September 2022, he had heard nothing more from Fortis so sent off an email asking about the status of the alley arm only to learn the price had climbed to $11,144.

Then, on June 9 of this year, he met with a Fortis designer and vegetation reps on site, along with n "third party" arborist. The designer told him alley arms were no longer used.

“My request to return to the original plan and quote was denied and again, after several more emails, I received an emailed quote of $42,602.03 on July 21 (with $21,000 having to be paid in five business days and the remainder due Oct. 1),” Rix wrote.

Of course, he refused.

That is an increase of $38,875 from the original quote for the alley arm.

“We should not be in this position,” Rix said. “If I could have paid it right off the bat it would be out on an alley arm and you could have brushed it like you do on a regular cycle, or even less because we might have been further away.”

The lower, heavier, wires are Telus with the top wires being FortisBC power lines.

(ROB MUNRO / iNFOnews.ca)

Early last week he filed a complaint with BC Utilities Commission and, last Thursday, July 27, he got a call from FortisBC saying a contractor would be out the next day to top his tree.

That spurred him to tape off the area around the base of his tree, block his driveway and refuse the contractor permission to go on his land.

Fortis called the police, which showed up, talked to Rix and the contractor.

“The policeman said to us it’s a civil matter,” Rix told iNFOnews.ca on site. “There is nothing criminal here. There’s no one to handcuff.”

The RCMP left and, shortly after, so did the contractor.

But that’s not the end of the standoff.

“We’ve worked closely with the property owners over the last five years to really try to accommodate their concerns including providing quotes for additional options, such as moving the power line underground to avoid trimming the trees,” Holly Harrison, corporate communication specialist with FortisBC, told iNFOnews.ca.

“However, those options did not move forward and right now, since the trees are growing directly into the power lines, we do have an obligation to the wider community to make sure the system is safe and the community remains safe because it’s posing an imminent risk at this time.”

Rix scoffs at the suggestion that the company has tried to work with him.

“No they haven’t,” he said. “I’m the one that initiated all the contact.”

In fact, he’s been trying to get someone from FortisBC to talk to him about what their plan is for the tree and how much they want to take off the top. He hasn't got a response.

READ MORE: Why all those trees in Kamloops, Okanagan parks are shedding their bark

“As for the next steps of our crews, we’re considering the best options to move forward with this,” Harrison said in an email to iNFOnews.ca yesterday, July 31. “Our aim is work with the property owners in a way that allows us to remove the branches from our lines as quickly as possible so we can keep the community safe.”

Rix is still waiting for a call from Fortis to find out just what “work with the property owners” actually means.

Harrison would not say when the crews are scheduled to return to the property.

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