Building Compliance

By Larry Milliken

Winter is giving up grudgingly, but signs of Spring are beginning to pop through.  As I drive around WLE each day, I keep looking for the first leaves to bud.  They are bad for my allergies but good for my mental health!  When you come up this spring to open your houses, or if you’re already here and waiting for those leaves like me, take a few minutes to survey the trees on your property.  As with all winters, we have had a number of trees break off this year or tip over with their root ball due to winds.  It is much safer and cheaper to have diseased or damaged trees taken down than to let nature take them down onto your house or car.  I see lots of trees with woodpecker holes in them which is a sure sign that they are dead or dying and need to be taken down.  If you think some of your trees may need to be removed, give me a call and I will be glad to assist you in checking them out and providing a list of local tree services to help you. 

The major drainage improvements we have made over the last two years seem to be working very well, but we still get some local ditches overflowing with heavy rain and snow melt. The enemy is leaves!  Those very critters I am so eagerly waiting to see.  They are beautiful on the trees but a nightmare in our drainage ditches.  I am always amazed at how two sticks can back up 5,000 leaves at a driveway culvert and make a dam that will hold back a torrent. You can all help with this problem by raking the leaves out of your drainage ditches periodically and especially after they come off the trees next Fall.  Also be sure your drain pipes are open and not plugged inside.  Please do not rake or blow leaves into the ditches in front of the house!!  Nature does not remove them, she just stuffs them into the nearest culvert pipe.  Thanks for your help and enjoy the Spring.