Admittedly, “HSVPOA – Saving Lives One Tree at a Time,” sounds like clickbait, but it really does pertain to what Todd Noles our Common Property, Forestry, and Wildlife Management Manager is doing. Todd works hard to save the lives of many trees in the Village, but unfortunately, as is the case with all life, sometimes the tree cannot be saved.

Noles reported, “We removed a large dead pine tree at the west gate entrance to the Village this morning. This tree was dangerous and very unsightly. This was done with the coordination and teamwork of myself assisting with Arky Tree Service (Huey Applegate).”

Several property owners expressed concern about this tree and Todd had been monitoring the situation. Attempting to save this tree from a six-months beetle infestation failed and the large pine died approximately three weeks ago. Todd hoped the tree could be saved but even with his expertise and efforts, this was not to be the case. The tree limbs were rapidly becoming brittle. Removal of this tree was necessary before limbs or the tree, itself, fell on a vehicle.

The CPF and WL Manager explained precise cutting was necessary because, “if you cut it one way, it would fall into the pond. If the tree fell another way, then it would fall on the electrical box. If it fell another way, it would fall into the entrance of Hot Springs Village. So it had to be cut very precise to fall between the electrical box and the pond.” The danger and difficulty of felling this pine was the reason why Arky Tree Service assisted.

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The coordination of the timing of this removal was critical as it was best done with a minimum of vehicles entering the Village. For this reason, the removal was postponed until after July 4th and performed very early in the morning when traffic was sparse.

This morning (July 8, 2020) the tree was removed and the area cleaned up. In addition, the stump was leveled with the ground for ease in mowing.

Todd said, “We are trying to make the entrance into our Village safe and aesthetically pleasing. Anything we can do to improve our aesthetics and improve the safety of our residents and community, that’s what I want to try to do.”

Todd started working in Hot Springs Village when he was in junior high school and worked parttime for Dathne Hobbs at the Recreation Center in 1990.

Upon graduation, Noles continued working for the POA and has not worked anyplace else. “The Village holds a special place to me,” Todd remarked.

Thank you to our HSVPOA staff, management, board members, committees, and other volunteers for all of your hard work to continue to make the Village a wonderful place to live.

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By Cheryl Dowden, July 8, 2020

Note: Thank you for reading. Due to feedback received from people who like this site, we have decided to continue to use this site for the news/opinion blog. Click here to go to the Hot Springs Village Community Forums where you can discuss many subjects.

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