Limb chopping copter trims around power-lines

A Georgia Power contracted helicopter has been doing a bit of high-flying pruning lately. And it has not gone unnoticed by local residents.
“Apparently it’s a lot more efficient to cut [around] power lines with a helicopter,” said Lumpkin County Chairman Chris Dockery when addressing the board at a recent meeting. “… They can trim so much better. And it reduces outages during storms.”
The well-travelled chopper has been seen all around Lumpkin County the last two weeks. And it’s easy to spot, since it’s tethered to a series of massive circular blades used to mow through branches and limbs at power-line rights-of-way.
Georgia Power representative Holly Crawford said the contracted company is pruning according to National Arboriculture Guidelines.
“Our teams are diligently working in the Lumpkin County area performing tree trimming as a part of our routine maintenance,” she said. “These efforts include pruning the right of way, targeted tree removals and identification of trees on or along the right of way that pose a threat to electric service, particularly during storms. … Trees and weather are the largest cause of outages on our electrical system.  Ensuring that our rights of way around distribution lines are clear is an essential part of ongoing efforts to prevent power outages.”
Recently locals took to The Nugget Facebook page as they described the flying chain-saw copter as everything from “impressive” to “awesome” to “terrifying” to “messy.”
That latter description has local officials fielding multiple calls.
And Sheriff Stacy Jarrad is one of them.
“Some people have just been calling me about the debris,” he said. “They asked if the inmates would come clean it up and I had to explain that I can’t use inmates on private property.”
In a Facebook post last week Jarrard explained that he’d reached out to Georgia Power representatives to make sure the clean-up is on the way.
“They do come back and they clean up some of the limbs and debris that falls,” he said.
Dockery said he has heard the same thing from Georgia Power.
However, there will be a wait.
“What Georgia Power has is a crew and they typically run one to two weeks behind where the helicopter cuts,” he said. “This crew is currently in Dawson County but they’re working their way up, clearing the debris that’s in Lumpkin County. But they’re one to two weeks behind the helicopter.”
In the meantime, county officials said any “dangerous conditions or blocked driveway” should be reported by calling 770-535-6406.
“The equipment needed to pick up debris post tree trimming is being secured now and will be mobilized soon,” said Crawford.
(To see the chopper in action check out The Nugget’s Facebook page.)