Selectmen Updates Town on Muller Road Easement Issue

During the meeting on Monday, July 18, the Burlington Board of Selectmen presented the town with the most recent updates from utility-company NStar's response to the Muller Road easement situation. 

The issue, as reported by Patch, began at the June 13 meeting when residents of Muller Road and the surrounding area brought to the board's attention that NStar had recently completed a clearing project on an easement and buffer zone on Muller Road. The residents were upset because in their opinion NStar had cleared more vegetation than was necessary to protect the power lines over the buffer zone, clear-cutting the entire easement. The land is also a designated conservation area.

During the June 27 meeting, Town Administrator Robert Mercier informed residents that he and other town officials had met with representatives of NStar on the issue and the utility-company stated at that time it would come up with a response to residents' concerns. 

That response was delivered during this week's meeting. 

The main thrust of NStar's proposal was that the company would allow a six-foot wooden fence to be construction on the site. The maintenance of the fence, the letter stated, would be the responsibility of Edens and Avant, the owner of the Middlesex Commons, which is down the hill from the easement, because the "screen is solely for their benefit." 

"While we understand the concerns of neighbors and town officials regarding our Right-of-Way maintenance program, NSTAR has a responsibility to provide safe and reliable electricity service to our customers," the letter states. "The northeast blackout that occurred during the summer of 2003 was caused by a tree coming in contact with a transmission line in Ohio. So like utilities across the nation, NSTAR now operates under much stricter federal guidelines regarding keeping Rights-of-Ways clear." 

NStar also provided a list of plants and trees that are acceptable to be planted in Right-of-Ways. The standards, explained the letter, is that the company can only allow vegetation that grows to a maximum of three feet. 

"As we move forward," the letter states, "our goal along our transmission corridor is to maintain low growth shrubs and grasses under the lines. This will eventually return the area to a meadowlands type of environment." 

Not everyone was happy with NStar's proposal. 

"I'm not interested in a six-foot fence," Board Vice-Chair Ralph Patuto said, indicating he was looking for a solution that remedied the removal of all the vegetation. 

Muller Road resident Howie Strachan, one of the residents who first brought the clear-cutting to the board's attention, expressed disappointment disappointment with the letter. He said he didn't believe a fence would look as good as the vegetation did and asked if planting would be part of the solution. 

Strachan also asked who would pay for the fence. Mercier said that had yet to be decided but said the Town would not be providing the funds for it. 

"How does the board not feel about them paying for anything?" Strachan asked. 

Mercier said the process is ongoing and that the town would speak with Edens and Avant to see what the company is willing to do to help remedy the situation and take care of the easement. He aslo stressed that NStar agreed to work more closely with the town in future clearing projects, an improvement over past practices.

"I don't think that is the final word in the issue," he said.