Law director: Power line would be 'enormous detriment' to city's downtown - Youngstown Vindicator
YOUNGSTOWN — A proposed high-tension power line project through downtown “would be an enormous detriment and would set back the progress” made in the area, Law Director Jeff Limbian wrote in a letter on behalf of the city.
The letter to the Ohio Power Siting Board, which will determine if the project moves forward, requested the body permit the city to intervene in the matter.
The request would give the city an “opportunity to be heard with the hope of changing the route,” Limbian said.
Without the motion, “we could not officially address the board,” he said.
Because the city’s “interests cannot be adequately represented by any other party,” Limbian wrote the commission should grant its intervention request “with the full powers and rights granted by the board” and state law.
The board could consider the project as early as next month. As of Tuesday, the project’s status is “pending,” according to the board’s website.
The proposed $23.1 million, 138-kilovolt transmission line project from FirstEnergy subsidiary American Transmissions Systems Inc. would be 5.2-miles long between the Riverbend and Lincoln Park substations, going through both parts of Youngstown and Campbell, and expand the Riverbend substation to install new equipment.
The lines would be parallel to the north side of the Mahoning River, going behind the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, through Wean Park, over the Market Street Bridge and behind the Covelli Centre. An alternate route of 6.2 miles would be on the south side of the river and cost $23.9 million.
Construction is scheduled to start in November and be finished around December 2023.
In his letter, Limbian wrote there was a $10 million investment in the amphitheater and park, which opened in 2019. The nearby Covelli Centre cost $45 million to construct in 2005. The city owns the center, amphitheater and park.
Youngstown “has worked tirelessly to move from a post-industrial city that suffered from the collapse of the steel industry to a more diverse economic contemporary city,” Limbian wrote.
Revitalizing the city would be “tarnished by the stringing of high-tension electrical wires as a backdrop to the city’s most significant economic development resource in a century,” he wrote.
Limbian added, “while the Lincoln-Riverbend project is a necessary and vital component to stability and growth in the region, it appears as though little consideration was given to the aesthetic, recreational and economic components to public enjoyment of a revitalized city.”
Limbian wrote that “other options have not been adequately explored or considered.”
He wrote that “an underground route would provide an even better aesthetic tableau for recreational and economic considerations.”
Numerous city officials, business owners, residents and community activists have objected to the project in the past couple of months with some suggesting the lines be buried.
FIRST ENERGY
FirstEnergy has said the project would provide safer and more reliable power to Youngstown as well as minimize the number and duration of power interruptions by strengthening the power grid.
Also, FirstEnergy wants to put the lines as close as possible to the tree line and railroad tracks along the Mahoning River to minimize the impact to the amphitheater.
The company is not planning to put the lines underground.
Scott Humphreys, FirstEnergy’s supervisor of transmission siting, testified at a Nov. 30 hearing in front of Greta See, a power siting board administrative judge, that he told city officials eight days prior that “when there’s a viable above-ground option, underground isn’t considered, one, from the overall impact that it has as well as the economic impact it has.”
He said underground is much more costly than having the lines on towers.
Humphreys also said, “through discussions, we did identify the possibility of undergrounding. However, it would be at the expense of the city of Youngstown as they are the primary and sole benefit of that undergrounding.”
Humphreys said there would be five to seven utility towers with the two tallest being 140 feet and adjacent to the Market Street Bridge. The others would be about 100 to 115 feet tall, he said.
Also, James S. O’Dell, a senior siting specialist with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio who is investigative leader for the project, recommended Nov. 23 that the siting board approve the preferred route in the application. His statements backed up the Oct. 19 sitting board staff report that recommended the project’s approval.
Project details
• The proposed $23.1 million, 138-kilovolt transmission line project from FirstEnergy subsidiary American Transmissions Systems Inc. would be 5.2-miles long between the Riverbend and Lincoln Park substations, going through both parts of Youngstown and Campbell, and expand the Riverbend substation to install new equipment.
• The lines would be parallel to the north side of the Mahoning River, going behind the Youngstown Foundation Amphitheatre, through Wean Park, over the Market Street Bridge and behind the Covelli Centre. An alternate route of 6.2 miles would be on the south side of the river and cost $23.9 million.
• Construction is scheduled to start this November and be finished around December 2023.
SOURCE: Project documents
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source: https://www.vindy.com/news/local-news/2022/03/law-director-power-line-would-be-enormous-detriment-to-citys-downtown/
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