Commissioners approve easement with Unitil for pole relocation tied to county solar project

The Merrimack County Board of Commissioners approved an easement deed with Unitil to relocate poles and update wiring for a planned county solar project.

Chris presented the easement, saying the existing easement was too small and poles need to be moved to permit necessary cabling. The work includes replacing approximately 11 poles and creating a superseding easement to replace an existing easement from February 2005; the deed also contains a right-of-way easement for TDS to reach an AT&T cell tower. Chris said funds for the work had already been appropriated as part of the larger $1.7 million project and that Unitil’s interconnection work includes roughly $70,000 for easement and pole replacement.

Legal review: A commissioner asked whether county counsel had reviewed the easement language; Chris said the county attorney had reviewed it. The board moved, seconded and approved the easement deed by voice vote.

Ending: Commissioners authorized signatures and directed staff to forward the deed to attorneys for registration with the registry of deeds as appropriate.