Major NStar project slated for Fieldstone Drive area
Published on June 11th, 2008
STONEHAM, MA - The town's Board of Selectmen sanctioned a significant electrical service upgrade last week for a power outage prone area in the Fieldstone Drive area.
In a unanimous vote, the Selectmen agreed to allow NStar crews to replace ground-level transformers pads, manholes, and hundreds of feet of electrical conduits along eight roadways in the neighborhood.
In particular, Avalon Road, Fieldstone Drive, Sunset Road, Rustic Road, Macone Circle, Citation Avenue, Tedford Drive, and Sparhawk Circle would be impacted by the construction project, expected to commence this summer.
According to NStar representative Annmarie Walsh, the proposed infrastructure upgrade was necessary to stop power outages that have plagued the area.
The most recent power failure occurred just a week before the Selectmen's meeting.
“We're here to request the grant of location, so we can install the new cable and conduits in the Fieldstone Drive area,” the NStar official explained. “The residents of that area have experienced outages for a while. And outages will continue if we don't upgrade this area.”
A little over a month ago, neighbors attended the first hearing on the proposed construction project and voiced a series of concerns, including worries that newly surfaced roads would be torn-up and that landscaping near the transformer pads would be ruined.
At the time, NStar engineer John Ventura claimed that work crews would cause minimal damage to streets, as most of the conduits would be inserted through a new process called horizontal drilling.
Last week, Ventura claimed that four-by-four foot holes would be dug under the pavement at the site of each transformer, while a smaller two-by-two foot patch of roadway would be excavated in sites where other utilities were located.
According to Public Works Director Robert Grover, he was in complete support of the infrastructure upgrades, but he wanted assurances that the roadways would be repaved curb-to-curb if traditional trenches were deemed necessary.
The town normally requires utility companies to completely repave a roadway, if that street has been resurfaced within the past five years. Grover indicated a willingness to waive that demand, if the trenches were limited to small areas.
Grover also encouraged the energy company to replace a series of overhead wire connections to street lights with underground electrical infrastructure.
“I'm 100 percent behind the project. We have a sewer pumping station there,” the DPW director said. “Everytime [there's an outage], the sewage doesn't leave there until NStar brings a huge generator on scene. So it's a major safety concern.”
“My concern on the paving is what the street will look like when it's done. I don't want it to look like some of the streets where you have a patch every ten-feet,” Grover stipulated.
The Selectmen also mandated that NStar reseed residential lawns that are torn-up due to the replacement of ground-level transformer pads.
A large portion of the neighbors attending both meetings claimed that shrubs, bushes, and other plantings had been destroyed in the past by NStar crews who were servicing the equipment.
According to Walsh, NStar crews have easement rights to the transformers, and at least a four-foot buffer zone is required for safety considerations. As a courtesy, she did agree to allow neighbors time to remove the shrubs and bushes on their own.
“Some residents did receive a letter notifying them that shrubbery along the pads or the transformers will be removed,” Walsh admitted. “NStar has an easement and specific clearance needs to be maintained. So bushes will be removed and we will not replace them.”
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