Update: 02-14-2025

Attorneys for the town of Branford have retrieved the attached letter dated April 28, 2024 confirming that Gary Zielinski successfully completed the Tree Warden School in 2017 – over 8 years ago and only now revealed.

We’ve also retrieved this 11-09-2022 email from Eversource. It was sent by Gary Zielinski after my wife’s 09-06-2022 almost fatal tree accident. He refused to respond to our emails or phone calls. The contents illustrate his total lack of managerial or technical acumen necessary to be tree warden. He took no other action to protect Leetes Island Road drivers from another disaster.

Note the email was sent to June Moulis of Lucas Trees, who then forwards it to Eversource.

The town is required by ordinance to hire a professional arborist “in waiting” for just this situation. June Moulis of Lucas Trees is under contract with Eversource and is not under contract to the town.

The trees were finally removed 2 years later by Eversource. Read below.

Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2022 8:35:10 PM (UTC)
Sent: Wed, 9 Nov 2022 8:35:01 PM (UTC)
Subject: Fwd: [EXTERNAL]Leaning trees on Leetes Island Rd
From: June Moulis
To: Mcleod, Dale B ;
EVERSOURCE IT NOTICE – EXTERNAL EMAIL SENDER **** Don’t be quick to click! ****
Do not click on links or attachments if sender is unknown or if the email is unexpected from someone you
know, and never provide a user ID or password. Report suspicious emails by selecting ‘Report Phish’ or
forwarding to SPAMFEEDBACK@EVERSOURCE.COM for analysis by our cyber security team.
Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone
Get Outlook for Android
From: Gary Zielinski
Sent: Wednesday, November 9, 2022 9:31:50 AM
To: June Moulis
Subject: [EXTERNAL]Leaning trees on Leetes Island Rd
June
Could you please check on these trees located at 261 Leetes Island Rd. They are leaning and look like they can
impact power lines across the street.
Let me know what you think
Thank you
Gary

Around 10:40 AM, Tuesday July 30, 2024 our generator kicked in due to an Eversource power outage. All the usual events took place – downed internet, tv, and AC – then the generator decoupled from the grid and 10 minutes later we were back up and running. We’re lucky to have a generator.

After September 6, 2022 when a tree fell on our car while Jane was driving south on Leetes Island Road, I investigated Branford’s forest management practices and discovered that there are none. Branford does not even have a state licensed tree warden – a fact that First Selectman Cosgrove denies but refuses to come up with proof.

In an attempt to confirm the rumor that the July 30th tree that disrupted our power was near the Leetes Island Road location of my wife’s accident. I extracted the nearby Eversource utility pole number from the police report and contacted Eversource. For the record, it is Eversource pole #44736 and on 9-6-2022 it was struck by the same tree that struck our car.

Eversource arborist Dale McLeod confirmed the location of both trees just south of Flat Rock Road along Leetes Island Road and that the area was a “mess”. See below.

Branford’s Tree Warden website hasn’t updated the Eversource vegetation plan since January, 2018. And it does not name a tree warden.

Mr. McLoud reported that he was working with Branford’s tree warden, not knowing that he does not have a state license as a tree warden.

This is the region of consideration looking north along Leetes Island road and just south of Flat Rock Road.

On March 21, 2023 I sent the following letter to the Board of Selectman. Also see https://vimeopro.com/branfordtv/branford-town-meetings/video/815164310

Mr. James Cosgrove, Branford First Selectman

Branford Board of Selectman

Branford, CT 06405

Dear Mr. Cosgrove and Board of Selectman:

As you are aware, the RTM recently revised the town code that governs the duties of the town tree warden. This revision was in response to a September 6, 2022 accident when my wife experienced a near fatal encounter with a falling tree while driving south on Leetes Island Road.

It has been revealed that the town has not had a state certified tree warden for almost three years, as required by both state statutes, and previous and revised versions of the town code.

After September 6, our repeated attempts to contact either the town public works director or the town tree warden (one and the same) failed. The revised town code now requires that the town tree warden respond to taxpayer tree-related requests.

As of September 6, and as of this writing, the town tree warden webpage does not list the name or e-mail address of a state certified tree warden or anyone acting in that capacity.

It’s for these reasons that I’m appealing directly to the Board.

It should also be noted that a freedom of information act (FOIA) request revealed the outrageous fact that the town public works administration has no record of the post-accident cleanup on September 6, 2022, even given the severity of the near-fatal event involving a roadside tree.

We wonder if other similar events have not been recorded by Branford public works. We hope that the new tree warden will keep publicly accessible records.

Finally, we are concerned that the group of roadside trees that contained the tree that fell on our car continue to present a danger to Leetes Island Road drivers. We believe they are rooted in private, downward sloping soil next to the town right of way. According to the police report, these trees are across Leetes Island Road from Eversource utility pole number 44736, which was damaged by the same tree that struck my wife’s car.

According to Sec, 16-10 A and C of the revised town code, the tree warden has the town and state authority to remove private roadside trees that present a threat to public safety.

Given the town does not have a state certified tree warden, we suggest the deployment of on-call arborists to evaluate the public safety risk before prevalent recent windstorms weaken these trees further.

Jerry Shaw

Here’s a video of the BOS meeting: https://vimeopro.com/branfordtv/branford-town-meetings/video/815164310

Mr. Cosgrove has seen fit to ignore both the warning about failing trees along Leetes Island Road and the tree warden provisions of the revised town code.

Branford needs a competent forest manager now before someone gets killed.

Jerry Shaw 8/2/24

Update: 8/24/2024: I’ve been in contact with two Eversource professional arborists, Dale McLeod, and Sean Redding and the Eversource manager of CT Vegetation Management, Jenna Turner. They confirmed that some of these trees were on private property next to the one that fell on Jane’s car in 2022.

Here’s the one sentence response from Jenna that will make your day:

“We have removed one tree on Leetes Island Rd, the one that had caused the recent outage near Flat Rock Rd. Last week I reviewed the area with a Lucas Tree Work Planner and she is now getting permission to remove ten priority trees along Leetes island Rd and RT 146. We have permission to remove four trees at this point. Work will start once we hear back from all property owners and a review with the town tree warden is completed.”