OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — For much of the year, residents in the neighborhood that is near Zorinsky Lake relished in the beauty of trees from their own backyard.
But by next spring, many of them will be cut down.
"It just seems to be an awfully broad solution to a maybe a minor problem,” says Eric Watts, who’s home border trees that will be coming down.
Beginning in the next few weeks, work will begin to knock down trees from the fence line, to create a 30 foot buffer zone all the way around Zorinsky.
About 20 percent will be cut down by March and many homeowners aren't happy.
"I think doing anything cookie cutter style because it's efficient and convenient, is a mistake,” says Mickey Decock, a homeowner.
"We haven't really gotten a clear definition of what the program is and why they're doing this,” says homeowner, Nancy Scheufle.
David Sobczyk with the Army Corps of Engineers says it's a necessary solution. He says national guidelines require them to define their boundaries and make sure no homeowners take over federal land.
"There were several hundred encroachments, they're minor right now, we want to keep them minor, we don't want them to turn into larger more impactful encroachments that would impair the dams ability to perform,” says Sobszyk.
And Sobczyk says if there's enough encroachments, it could lead to flood, something Zorinsky was made to stop.
"Pretty unlikely that those kinds of cases occur on a frequent basis, but if they do, it could impact, it could have some life safety implications,” says Sobczyk.
Three homeowners who we spoke say they've never seen any encroachments. They are worried about what will happen to the wildlife. Deer, squirrels, hawks and falcons all frequent the wooded area and the Bauermeister prairie next to it.
"We treasure the prairie and the trees,” says Decock.
The project will take anywhere from two to four years and cost over a million dollars. Eric Watts wonders if there's a cheaper solution.
"Say hey homeowners, you have until a certain date, a very early date, to get all these encroachments,” says Watts.
Sobczyk isn't sure that would save money in the long run.
"It's really not much of an option because we have to have a boundary program otherwise these encroachments would continue to grow and they could become impactful,” says Sobczyk.
He also says this isn't something that the corps can really take public input on, something the homeowners know.
"It is their land, and if that's what they want to do, that's what they're going to do,” says Watts.
The homeowners have reached out to Congressman Don Bacon's office and haven't gotten back a response. The city of Omaha, who maintains the park, will mow the area once trees are cut down.
