Town Officials Meet with NStar Reps Over Muller Road Easement

The Burlington Board of Selectmen discussed an issue raised at the last meeting on Muller Road by utility company NStar that had neighbors upset at the meeting on Monday, June 27. A public relations representative from the company was also present to answer questions.

The issue, as reported by Patch, began at the June 13 meeting 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.

At that meeting the board agreed the extent of the work was unnecessary and voted to follow-up on the matter with the utility company. They were not sure at the time what they could do because, as member Ralph Patuto said, the board has had similar difficulties with NStar in the past. He said the difficulty is that Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) utility companies have wide range on what they can do in easements and buffer zones under utility wires. However, the board decided to speak with NStar to try and work out an agreement on how similar situations could be handled in the future.

At last night's meeting Board of Selectmen Chair Walter Zenkin explained that earlier in the day he, Selectmen Dan DiTucci, Town Administrator Robert Mercier, Assistant Town Administrator Thomas Hickey, Conservation Administrator Dave Keeley and Chair of the Conservation Commission Larry Cohen met with three representatives of NStar to discuss the matter.

Zenkin said the result of the meeting was that NStar agreed that by next Tuesday, July 5, it would provide the town a plan to address the Muller Road issue. Few details were forthcoming at the meeting. Maryellen Walsh, the representative from NStar, confirmed that by Tuesday the company would have an update for the town but said little else.

"We had a talk today, some lengthy discussions," Zenkin said. "We walked the property and we discussed NStar being good neighbors. What came out of it was very promising and I think we'll all be more forward thinking in the future."

Members of the board and Conservation Chair Cohen continued to express their frustration over the clear-cutting during the meeting.

Cohen said he and other members of the commission were "disappointed" with the utility company's actions.

"No additional sensitivity was made even when they worked on a Conservation Area," he said. :Nobody asked what they could do to preserve conservation land or the buffer."

Cohen added he would like next Tuesday's decision by NStar would include a financial commitment to address the current problem and help set things to right.

Selectman Robert Hogan said he thought the company needed to change it's approach to the environment as a whole.

"I'm surprised with the degree of violence in which the work was done," he said. "Rocks and debris was thrown 50 to 100 feet into neighbors yards. NStar, to be a good neighbor, needs to become less hostile to environment."