Electric Poles Erected, Opponents Seek Underground Transmission Lines

STONE HARBOR – Atlantic City Electric’s project to upgrade the transmission infrastructure for Seven Mile Island is moving ahead rapidly. Attempts by a group of residents to halt the effort no longer dominate borough council meetings.
The work on the Peermont substation in Avalon is on schedule, the base for only one remaining steel galvanized pole must still be vibrated into place, and the infrastructure to bring the new transmission lines across the bay and underground for the first part of 95th Street nears completion. The focus for those who oppose the effort is not on stopping the project but on reversing it.
Borough Administrator Jill Gougher responded to a question at the Borough Council meeting Feb. 16 during public comment indicating that the borough is engaged in “careful monitoring” of the remaining effort by the utility.
A few instances of damage to neighboring borough infrastructure have occurred during the project’s construction phase. Gougher said repairs were quickly made.
The project includes installation of steel poles that carry transmission lines from substations on the mainland and across the island from Avalon to Stone Harbor boulevards. 
The larger new poles replace existing wooden poles and the aesthetics of the new polls have been a source of irritation for many residents. Worries about the installation process were also of great concern, but that is largely in place.
Having lost the attempt to prevent the new poles from being installed and still wishing to have Atlantic City Electric move the transmission lines underground as they cross the borough, residents who have organized in a non-profit entity and borough council have moved to an effort to have the utility draw up plans and identify costs to reverse the process, essentially moving transmission lines underground and removing the steel poles. 
It is a process that would likely involve reinstallation of old wooden poles as a means to distribute power from the new substation to individual residences.
Gougher explained that the electric company has not yet formally agreed to do the planning and cost analysis for reversing the process. Further, she noted, any such effort would have to be paid by the borough.
Utility Matters
Council member Karen Lane reported once again on the seemingly inexorable growth in water usage year-to-year.
A comparison of January 2016 with January 2015 showed the borough using almost 2 million gallons of water more this year. Water conservation is a high priority and council took action in response to part of the problem with new fees.
Lane has frequently reported that failures by many second homeowners to properly close down their homes for the winter have led to numerous emergency calls for water turn off due to leaks and burst pipes. The new fee structure adopted by council at this meeting is an effort to gain attention of homeowners.
The initial turn off charge has been increased to $250, a second turn off at the same property to $500, and any subsequent turn offs to $750. 
Lane also reported that South Jersey Gas would be moving through the borough over the next couple of months to raise that location of gas meters in accordance with post-Sandy changes in state regulations. The utility will make every effort to contact property owners who must be home for testing of their appliances in conjunction with the relocation. Letters are going out soon and information will be posted on the borough website.
Standing Committee Changes
Council introduced two new ordinances that impact oversight roles of its standing committees. After discussion at its previous work session, council began the process of moving oversight of the animal control function from Natural Resources Committee to Public Safety Committee. 
The move is seen as a way to aid the enforcement effort and to make the process more efficient by involving police dispatch as an initial point of contact.
Joselyn Rich and Judith Davies-Dunhour, who chair the Natural Resources and Public Safety committees respectively, have supported the move.
The introduction of another new ordinance aims at deleting the Business Tourism Advisory Committee entirely with Barry Mastrangelo, chair of Administration and Finance, saying at the previous work session that tourism is well represented across other committees.
Joan Kramar, who chairs Public Works Committee, may have signaled a future proposal to change the location of oversight of the Farmer’s Market when she said that “Public Works does most of the work for the Farmer’s Market” and that it should therefore fall under her committee. No formal proposal for a change has been made.
Point, Beach, and Bay
Dr. Lenore Tedesco, executive director of the Wetlands Institute, briefly updated council on efforts to create and protect habitat at Stone Harbor Point.
A project last year moved 50,000 cubic yards of sand to create and elevate new habitat which needs some repair this year following recent storms. Tedesco estimated that an additional 15,000 cubic yards will be moved in this phase of the effort.
Gougher reported that work is ongoing in areas of the beach that were hit the hardest in recent storms. The borough is seeking approval from the Army Corps and the state to reuse sand from the dragging process on the bay side of the island for fill at the beaches. That sand is currently being separated as part of the dredging effort.
Gougher also said that the borough was seeking approval to continue the dredging effort past the March 31 end date and out to May 6. 
She said there would still be time left to demobilize the marina site and have it prepared for the Memorial Day opening of the summer season.
Gougher indicated that the approval would allow the borough to complete a larger portion of the proposed dredging area this season helping to move the multi-year project further along to completion. She also admitted that the borough interest in extending the dredging effort is influenced by the proposal to reuse the separated sand on the depleted beaches.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.