Selectmen Scold Verizon For Inaction on Double-Poles

After months of trying to get Verizon to replace dozens of double-poles across Marblehead, Robert Jolly, Director of the town's , brought his fight to the attention of the Board of Selectmen, none of whom were pleased with excuses offered by the network's Regional Director of External Affairs.

At their meeting Wednesday afternoon, board members attempted to mediate a failed discussion between Jolly and Verizon's Regional Director, Stanley J. Usovicz, that Jolly said wasn't "getting anywhere."

"We're having some problems with Verizon regarding the number of double-poles in town. What we are getting are emails that go back and forth but no results," Jolly said.

Jolly began by telling board members that of the roughly 100 double-poles in Marblehead, which are simply old or damaged utility poles supported by being connected to another pole, 40 are now Verizon's responsibility to replace.

"Of those 100, 40 are now solely on Verizon," Jolly said, adding "These poles aren't new, some of them date back to 2002."

Although Selectmen can do little to force Verizon to replace the poles, Jolly said he brought the dispute to in an effort to raise awareness among town residents.

"I look at the newspapers and I see that double-poles are starting to come down in Hamilton and it's because it ends up in the newspaper," Jolly said. "When I send an email, I don’t get any results and what I need are results. I need poles removed."

Jolly told board members that Usovicz sent him an email assuring him that a double-pole still standing at the intersection of Rockaway and Pleasant streets would be replaced in June.

"It's almost October," Jolly said.

Usovicz offered several excuses for the delay in fixing the double-poles, including flaws in the way the network's database is managed and a highly-publicized 16-day work stoppage in August.

"There’s no doubt that Bob is sending the information in," Usovicz said. "What I need to do is make sure that it ends up in the hands of the people who do the work."

Usovicz's explanation for the delay didn't do much to appease board members and prompted Harry Christensen to propose a motion asking the pair to return in two weeks for an update.

"You said you'd have (the pole) down in June. Part of this may have been because of the work stoppage, but that was in August, two months after June," James Nye said. "The problem is that you don’t care about us. You may, but Verizon doesn’t and this is becoming a problem."

Judith Jacobi, who said Verizon's inaction was "very disappointing," worried the high number of double-poles in town reflected poorly on the local Municipal Light Department.

"Our Light Department has a reputation for doing great work and I feel like this tarnishes their reputation, which is really upsetting," Jacobi said. 

Also upset with the company's lack of action was Jackie Belf-Becker, who said she found it "inexcusable that this has been allowed to go on for so long."

Board members unanimously approved Christensen's motion to hear back from both men in two weeks, depending on whether or not Jolly can make it. If he is unable to attend the board's next meeting, they plan on holding the meeting in a month.