BOSTON (WHDH) - When the New England winds start howling, bad things can happen.
“It was in the middle night and we just heard just a loud crash,” said Rose Powell-Thompson. “Come to find out it was the tree.”
A neighbor’s dead tree came crashing across her Dorchester driveway this past January. She wanted the tree removed so she contacted her neighbor, which happens to be Keolis, the company that manages the Commuter Rail. That’s right – the troublesome tree came from Commuter Rail property. Rose says years before the tree ever fell, she’d been trying to get the Commuter Rail to cut it down.
“They basically just marked the ones that were to come down and then that was it,” she said.
Now, with the tree in her driveway, Rose reached out again.
“They said give it a week or two and if you don’t hear back from us, call us back,” Rose remembered.
A couple of weeks later, Rose followed their instructions.
“I called them back. It had been given to maintenance and they were supposed to follow through and never, never did I get a call from them,” Rose said.
The phone calls weren’t working, so four months after the tree fell Rose was stumped. That’s when she called Solve it 7.
But is Keolis responsible for removing the tree? We asked our legal expert, Bob Harnais.
“The land owner of the property is responsible if the tree is rotten,” he explained. “If you have a neighbor that has a tree that is sick or rotting, I would put them on notice right away. That way they accrue that liability.”
Since Rose says she reported the tree years ago, Solve it 7 called Keolis and told the representative about her problem. The next day Rose got a phone call from Keolis.
“He let me know that their outside company would be by to get the rest of the dead trees down,” Rose said.
And they did! Work crews chopped up and removed the downed tree, putting Rose in a chipper mood.
“It feels wonderful,” she said. “I am very grateful and pleased to you guys for coming to my rescue.”
Need help? Maybe it’s time to branch out in our direction and give Solve it 7 a call at (617) 367-7777 or send us an email at Solveit7@whdh.com.
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