by Alain Jehlen in Uncategorized
Posted on October 11, 2009 at 1:53 pm
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Here’s an issue to unite all the factions of our diverse city–double-pole utility poles! The Globe says we have 192 of them in Somerville. And there may be something we can do about it. In fact, two things.
First thing: There’s a state law that says utility companies have to replace them within 90 days. But apparently there’s no way to enforce it. A bill in the legislature would allow cities to fine utility companies $1,000 for each time they break the law. Maybe we could get the city to hold off on some of those new parking fines and replace them with the revenue from double-pole fines.
Meanwhile, it seems that our neighbors in Medford are getting creative about this. According to the Globe: “We’ve gone so far as to not give them certain permits or give them dates when they need to do some work, until they remove the double poles,’’ said council president Breanna Lungo-Koehn. “We try to get them to take down 10 a month, which is more than they put up per month. . . . They know that we mean business.’’
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Are there any legislators against the bill to allow cities to fine utilities in violation of the law? If so, who?
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No way to enforce it? How about (a) filing a complaint with the State AG (b) passing local fines on utility companies (c) filing lawsuits on behalf of residents and/or municipalities against the utility companies.
The $1000 fine is a joke because it would be a one-time fine per double-pole. It’s probably cheaper for the utility companies to pay the fine than to drive a truck with a service crew for several hours for each pole. If the fine was imposed for each day beyond the 90-day limit, then it would really add up and make it worth their while to fix the problems.
Somerville should follow the lead of North Andover and have the utility lines buried underground.
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Somerville DID follow the lead of North Andover (or, perhaps, anticipate NA in ages gone), since many of the lines (on Highland, for example) ARE buried. There are two odd circumstances that ought to be considered in such advice, which I support heartily, by the way.
First, FIOS and Verizon are deliberately red-lining Somerville and withholding any installations here because they don’t want to contribute to SCAT. The double irony of this is that FIOS is actually financed by the federal government, through an accelerated tax depreciation Verizon (and others) got in the mid 1990′s on the premise that the carriers would dump their copper lines and replace those lines with fiber optic – now over a decade ago. So, in fact, Verizon is holding back on meeting their already 15 year old commitment, and it might be interesting for the city to sue them and include interest on any penalty.
Second, when George Westinghouse first figured out that a wire to every house would mean electricity and lights, he lived in Lenox (the home of Tanglewood) and buried all the wires. Well, in all that time, they lost the map! So, it’s not always so easy to get them to FIX the wires after they’re buried.
But, all in all, Barry is quite right. We ought to suggest that any double pole ought to have a buried wire if the pole remains double for more than that 90 day limit. Now, THAT kind of legislation would really make them mad!
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Update today from Matt Byrne at The Globe : Verizon, NStar pledge removal of 56 double poles in Somerville
Also related is this 4/23/2008 SV post from David Booth How to remove a double pole
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