Staff Writer
PRESQUE ISLE – Despite complaints by several residents living in the area of Oak and State streets, Presque Isle’s Zoning Board of Appeals, by a vote of 3-1, granted a special exception to Maine Public Service Company to relocate and construct a new substation at 255 and 257 State St., within the Urban Residential Zone, during the board’s July 8 meeting. Voting for the measure were Chairman Larry Perry, Zachary Powers and Brian Colton, with Dave Perry opposed.
Abutting property owners had been notified of the meeting via certified mail. Those notified included: Tim and Brenda Hafford, Geoffrey and Margo Dyer, Mark Brewer, Joanne Cardinal, Dana Nickerson and Christopher Randolph.
Some residents expressed concern over noise and safety at the substation, and why the facility couldn’t be placed elsewhere in the community, among other things, while others had no complaints.
“I attended the meeting. The project will abut my property by about 15 feet. There are definite noise issues. It’s a definite eyesore – a 40-foot structure they said they’d cover up with 3- to 6-foot shrubs. We’d (neighbors of the site) been told they’d be 15-foot. It will affect property values. I wouldn’t have bought my property had I known. I have a deck, but instead of viewing trees I’ll be listening to the hum and looking at a substation,” said Brewer, who attended the meeting.
Brewer said he’d inquired whether he and his neighbors would need an attorney but was told that wouldn’t be necessary.
“I had called Larry Perry, chairman of the Zoning Board, at home two to three weeks prior and was told no, an attorney wasn’t necessary, and just to bring pictures,” said Brewer, an Oak Street resident.
Brady Mahan, an Oak Street resident, attended the session and said he and others were under the belief that, given the fact the Zoning Board turned down the Aroostook Football League’s plans for property off the Caribou Road, based on complaints about noise and lights by a few neighboring residents there, the same would hold true in the case of MPS’s substation.
“This is devastating really. For some reason, they voted down AFL – went against the organization based on complaints of a couple neighbors. Having this case, we thought it wouldn’t be an issue. They told the citizens they didn’t need an attorney, yet MPS had Luke Rossignol there representing the business,” said Mahan.
Joanne Cardinal, also a resident of Oak Street, attended the meeting and said she had a number of concerns about Maine Public’s plans for the site.
“The proposed substation will go directly behind my back fence. I already suffer white noise hysteria from one that’s there and it’s not as close as the new one (will be). My property will be devalued as the result of the upgrade. The buffer trees they’re offering won’t serve the purpose,” said Cardinal, noting a 40-page booklet on the impact the substation would have on the neighborhood was not accepted by the board.
Cardinal said she transferred here with her extended family to take a job with DFAS and bought her house because it was in a good location and big enough for three generations.
“I bought a five-bedroom house big enough to house everyone. I transferred with the government from Denver. The house is big enough for us all to live in. But it’s hard to put up with the noise; I keep the windows closed to avoid the noise (hum from substation),” said Cardinal.
Cardinal also expressed concern about whether MPS would notify neighbors when they tore down the old structure.
“I want to know if we’ll be warned when they tear down the other structure. My grandson has very bad allergies. They’ll (MPS) will be putting all that crap in my backyard – in the air. He’s just a little person and can’t get away from it. We’ll have to keep our windows closed,” said Cardinal.
Richard James, a State Street resident, said the site will be a definite eyesore.
“There’s no doubt the site will be an eyesore. As a good neighbor, MPS should come by with drawings, walk us through (the process) to explain exactly what will take place. I wish they’d notified all those in the neighborhood, not just abutting property owners,” said James.
“True neighbors would talk to each other about what’s going on. MPS didn’t do that,” James said.
Dennis Dyer, of Oak Street, also attended the meeting and expressed his concerns over the view and the impact the substation would have on his property value.
Only abutting property owners Geoffrey and Margo Dyer, through a letter to the board, expressed support for the measure, stating “Maine Public Service are good neighbors” and that they had “no objections” to MPS relocating and constructing a new substation at 255 State St.
Rossignol and Daniel Lee, manager of engineering for MPS, gave the board an overview of the proposed project. Lee advised the board that MPS planned to place 6- to 8-foot cedar shrubs around the substation for buffering. Rossignol advised the board that MPS had owned the property with the present substation since 1960, MPS had rights as a property owner in the city and that the present substation was in place before the city’s ordinance was in effect and that this was an allowable use in the Urban Residential Zone – 2, as a special exception.
MPS is looking to upgrade the substation to provide better service to its customers. Company officials would like to work with the neighbors and have expressed interest in holding some type of meeting to address neighbors’ concerns.
“We need to rebuild our State St. substation. That part of the system is old. We’re upgrading voltage in the city to improve reliability,” said Tim Brown, vice president of engineering and operations for MPS.
For those two reasons, said Brown, MPS is looking to rebuild the substation to serve that side of town.
“As it turns out, a lot was available directly in back of that substation lot. Instead of building elsewhere in town, we have an opportunity to build by moving back on the lot,” said Brown.
Brown said since the existing substation is a permitted use of the property, MPS “just needed permission to use the adjacent lot for the same use – just needed a special exception to do so.”
The initial electrical output will be the same, according to Brown, while noise levels are expected to drop.
“We’ve conducted our own readings (on noise) and the newer transformers are much quieter than the old ones coming out of there. The noise level should go down,” said Brown. “We feel strongly that this is the best location in Presque Isle – tucking this one back from the road.”
The removal of the old substation and construction on the new one – which is expected to be a bit larger – should begin by early fall.
“We’re looking to begin construction by October. We have an appeal period t wait out, then a bit of time after that, but we expect to start construction by early fall,” said Brown.
The project is estimated to cost in the neighborhood of $600,000 to $700,000, according to Brown.
In the meantime, Brown said the company would like to meet with residents and address their concerns.
“The company would be willing to meet with any group of residents, even at the site, to discuss landscaping plans, noise issues,” said Brown.
