Davey Tree Flipbooks

9 November/December 2022 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN Jason Jodway, general foreman, DTE Energy account, traveled with 30 crews from Michigan down to the Orlando area, where they supported Duke Energy's storm recovery efforts – clearing uprooted trees off wires, clearing out spans for equipment repair and handling specialized climbing requests. Jodway said Davey crews communicated and worked well with the Duke Energy linemen, who were impressed with Davey employees' skills and knowledge. "They actually really love Davey employees," he said. "We are one of the few companies that still climb and don't just rely on bucket trucks. We got sent to a few different areas because they were requesting climbing crews." COMMERCIAL, UTILITY CREWS TEAM UP The recovery of several manufactured home communities and golf courses in the Fort Myers area benefitted from the collaborative efforts of Davey Commercial Landscape Services (CLS) and Utility services crews. Steve Bureau, operations manager, Davey Golf South, said Davey CLS client Equity LifeStyle Properties sustained significant tree damage at three of its residential communities and three golf courses where Davey is contracted to maintain the landscapes: Pine Lakes Country Club, Lake Fairways Country Club and Heritage Palms Golf and Country Club. "The courses had extensive tree and irrigation system damage," Bureau said. "We also had to pick up debris, including large pieces of aluminum from homes and carports that the storm blew out onto the courses." Bureau said Davey CLS employees traveled in to help from Ohio, Michigan, Minnesota, Virginia and elsewhere in Florida. "We had at least five, three-person Utility crews and about eight, three-to-four person CLS crews working," he said. Bureau credited Mackenzie Fjetland, production manager, Minneapolis territory, and Shane Williams, general foreman, City of Ocala account, as critical support personnel who ensured the work was communicated and coordinated well. Joey Pate, senior supervisor, Utility services, worked with Bureau on both the golf courses and in the residential neighborhoods, starting first in the manufactured home communities with 12 employees. Pate, who has experience as a quality control manager for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, described the work as out of the ordinary for line clearance crews. "I have set up FEMA trailers for the army corps of engineers in the past," Pate said. "I've been tasked many times with projects out of the ordinary. That's what I told the crews before we went. This was kind of cool and fun to get challenged with something new to overcome and conquer the project. All the employees did a great job of accepting the challenge." Pate's crews were still working in late October and anticipated several more weeks before the neighborhoods and courses were cleaned up completely. Davey Tree Exp Kent, OH 4424 Florida Power & Light account Michael Ashe, Travis Cunningham, Jeff Thornton While overseeing the storm restoration process in Sarasota, Florida, I was impressed by the high level of professionalism and hard work Travis, Mike, and Jeff demonstrated. Brian Hatchcock Florida Power & Light Sarasota, Florida

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