The state Board of Public Utilities will render a decision on the complaint filed by the township of Montclair over PSE&G’s tree-cutting and power line work on Gray Street within the next seven days, officials said.
The BPU heard testimony today from Montclair Councilman Nick Lewis and Gray Street residents Brad Thatcher (left) and Marlon Brown, as well as representatives from PSE&G.
A lawyer for PSE&G argued twice that the case should be dismissed, but BPU Commissioner Nicholas Asselta rejected the request.
A handful of Gray Street residents schlepped to Trenton to participate in the hearing, which began almost 45 minutes late and lasted just over two hours.
“We appreciate that the commissioner heard us out and didn’t dismiss the case,” Thatcher said.
Montclair’s case was presented by township attorney Ira Karasick, who said the township received no notice about the PSE&G project and that residents were both surprised and upset.
“We believe there were better routes with a less negative impact on residents to reach the Glen Ridge Country Club,” Karasick said. “Stop this project please, and let’s see what the alternatives are.”
Thatcher described how he came home from vacation and found that trees had been cut down to half their size. Later a tree in front of his house was removed altogether. He and other residents argued that the new, taller poles, extra wires and chopped trees diminish their small block, and residents said their understanding from technicians on the scene was that the work was being done to improve power at the Glen Ridge Country Club.
“We don’t want to be the highway for the country club,” Thatcher said.
Brown, who grew up on Gray Street, said that while the street is now integrated, it was once 100 percent black, and back when the power lines were originally put in, neighborhood aesthetics could have been disregarded because of that factor.
Asked whether he was implying racism was involved and how the issue is relevant today, Brown said he hopes he is wrong and that race has had nothing to do with any decisions.
“The Gray Street neighborhood received little to no consideration,” Brown said. “We are still receiving less than we might receive otherwise We should have been given the same consideration as Glen Ridge residents to review the plans and see what was being proposed. Some common sense alternatives should have been looked at.”
PSE&G officials argued that the company has had several meetings with residents in recent weeks to explain their efforts.
PSE&G Supervising Engineer Todd McCabe said the company undertook the project to improve power in the area, which experienced extended outages (defined as more than five minutes hours) since early June. The utility cable, dating back to the early 1960s, was deteriorating and needed to be upgraded, he said.
The company normally does not notify municipal officials when it does such work, he said. Yet PSE&G discussed the project with officials in Glen Ridge before the project began, and Montclair residents wanted to know why Glen Ridge was consulted, but not Montclair.
McCabe said the upgrade was not being done to benefit the country club, but for about 60 residences in the area and the club, a claim that made residents in the audience shake their heads. Residents pointed out that only a handful of the residences are actually on Gray Street.
When asked whether the company considered alternate routes for the new cables, McCabe said the company “will only consider utilizing existing right of ways and existing facilities that have the least impact to customers.”
About three quarters of the project is already complete, McCabe said, The remaining work to be done involves running wiring along the poles.
McCabe said he went door to door to notify residents about the project before the company began its work, but when asked how many people he spoke with, he could not remember how many.
An arborist for PSE&G testified that he consulted with a township employee about the trees that would be topped and the tree that was cut down, before the work began.
At the end of the hearing, the commissioner questioned why the project was discussed with Glen Ridge and not Montclair and noted that the public meetings with residents in Montclair were all after the fact when people were upset.
Kudos to everyone for finally appealing and complaining in the right forum.
A significant fact that the BPU should take into consideration in this situation is that PSEG never evaluated or considered any other alternatives except the Gray St pole installation. PSEG never took into consideration NJ state statute 48:3-17a which prohibits front yard utility pole installation in gas lamp communities. PSEG never evaluated tapping the 13,000kva power line off Hawthorne Ave, installing utility poles in line with the existing poles on GRCC property, and solving the problem without any destruction of the trees in the community.
PSEG is 3/4 complete with an ill conceived installation where they admitted they did not evaluate any other alternatives, because they continued work after they were aware of community opposition. They pushed forward so they could say “we are 3/4 complete”, even after they were physically stopped from the installation of the last utility pole they need to complete the project.
There are alternatives. PSEG employees just don’t want to admit their mistake.