Steel Poles Stay or Go in Stone Harbor

STONE HARBOR – The movement on the part of many residents here to rid the borough of Atlantic City Electric (ACE) steel utility poles gained momentum with an announcement by Mayor Judith Davies-Dunhour at the Nov. 7 council work session.
She said that the borough’s Planning Board had retained the services of Mott Associates to conduct an independent analysis of the feasibility and costs of removing the steel poles and burying electric transmission lines to the substation on 60th Street in Avalon.
In October 2016, amid uproar over the installation of the 70-foot-tall poles, ACE provided the borough with an estimate to move the overhead transmission lines underground and remove the steel poles. That estimate, according to ACE, was $25 million.
The utility’s Senior Communications Specialist Francis Tedesco said that the estimate did not include the cost associated with the other utilities that also use the steel poles.
Companies including Comcast and Verizon would require replacement wood poles or have their infrastructure also buried, all at a cost that would be additional to the electric company’s estimate.
Davies-Dunhour said that the assignment for Mott Associates includes review of the ACE cost proposal including the engineering and construction issues involved in moving the infrastructure underground. 
Mott is to look for ways to make the desired changes feasible, to consider legal issues that may be involved with the project and to add a review of the feasibility of moving the electric utility’s distribution system, the wires that bring power to individual homes, underground as well.
The contract with Mott involves a fee of $10,000 which comes from funds available to the Planning Board for the ongoing review of the master plan.
Davies-Dunhour said the information from the Mott analysis would feed that master plan process.
Davies-Dunhour said that a meeting between ACE and Mott Associates has been scheduled for Nov. 21.
Tedesco was unable to confirm that meeting.
The utility line relocation feasibility study, as Davies-Dunhour referred to the Mott project, goes beyond the scope of the October 2016 cost estimate provided by ACE.
The hope is that this independent analysis will come back with estimates financially viable for the borough.
Tedesco expressed the utility’s commitment to “continue communication with the borough and other interested parties” regarding the potential alterations to the transmission infrastructure. 
At the time when the infrastructure upgrades on the island were underway, ACE maintained that overhead transmission infrastructure allowed for faster identification of problems and quicker restoration of power when problems occur.
The transmission system upgrades that were part of the total Piermont Project also hiked power feeding the substation from 23kV to 60kV.
The galvanized steel poles, ACE explained at the time, represented the utility’s new standard for dealing with those transmission upgrades.
The poles also provide greater protection from wind damage associated with coastal storms.
Residents opposed to the new poles have consistently maintained that an underground infrastructure has been proven to offer greater resiliency to weather-related problems. 
Poles, they say, have depressed home values and created an unsightly image in the community.
The initial installation of the poles became an issue in the 2016 Republican primary and was a factor in Davies-Dunhour’s unseating of mayor Suzanne Walters.
Both Charles Krafczek and Mantura Gallagher ran on platforms that opposed the ACE project. Krafczek is chair of the council’s standing committee on utilities.
Opposition to the poles remains strong in the borough. The question is whether or not Mott Associates can find a feasible way to accomplish the borough’s goals at a price the borough can afford.
To contact Vince Conti, email vconti@cmcherald.com.