101 North Beacon St.

Town Council Delays Vote on Electrical Service to New Building, Wants to Avoid New Pole

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Embarc StudioThe new building at 101 North Beacon St. has 28 condos in three-stories. Developers have not been able to get electricity to the building, an await a decision from the Town Council which has said it prefers not to have a new utility pole installed as part of the project. For the second time, the Town Council voted to table the vote on a proposed petition to put in a new utility pole on Irving Street to supply power to a new residential building on North Beacon Street. The petition submitted by Eversource is asking to install a new pole about 18 feet north of another pole on Irving Street, just south of North Beacon Street.

Government

Town Council Puts Eversource On Notice About Double Poles in Watertown

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An example of a double utility pole on Main Street in Watertown from 2016

Tired of waiting for Eversource to take action needed to remove double utility poles in Watertown, the Town Council told the utility this week it will not consider requests for Eversource projects in Town until the poles are dealt with. Every few meetings, a utility comes to the Town Council for approval to do work in Watertown, typically putting in an underground trench for wires. Tuesday, Eversource had two such requests, but one councilor brought up his frustration about the lack of action on removing double poles, particularly one problematic one in his district. When a new utility pole is installed, the old one is attached to the new one until the wires are transferred to the new one. There is an order for which wires get moved first depending on where they are on the pole, and who owns the poles.

Double Poles

Town Council Getting Serious About Removing Double Utility Poles

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Members of the Town Council are sick and tired about the double utility poles that are a common sight around Watertown, and threatened to deny new utility and cable permits if they are not removed. On Tuesday, the Council heard four requests for petitions from utilities looking install new lines or new poles around town. Two of them were for the new CVS under construction in Coolidge Square, and both were on double poles. The double poles go up when one pole is old or damaged, and the wires have not been transferred to the new pole. This has long been an issue for the Council.

Government

Town Council Unhappy With Leaning Pole in South End

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A couple blocks off Galen Street on Morse Street sits a utility pole that has irked members of the Watertown Town Council. The pole is actually a double pole – where an old pole fell or is about to fall and a new one is put up but where the old one has not been removed. The Town Council has worked with Watertown’s State Reps to try to get the utility and phone companies to remove these double poles more quickly. The one on Morse Street is more than just an eyesore, however, said Town Councilor Cecilia Lenk, who represents the South End. “It’s at a severe angle and appears to be about to come down in a storm or hit by a truck,” Lenk said.