Select Board denies National Grid pole petition after conservation commission concerns

Hamlin Select Board members voted Monday to deny National Grid’s petition (petition 30809068) to install new utility poles and upgrade a single-phase line to three-phase along a portion of Glendale Road. The motion to deny the petition passed on a voice vote after board members cited the Conservation Commission’s earlier recommendations and the petition’s overlap with a pending solar project.The petition, represented at the meeting by Keegan Lynch of National Grid, proposed roughly seven new mid-span poles in the right of way and an upgrade from single-phase to three-phase spacer cable intended to improve voltage and reliability for customers at the end of the Glendale Road line. Lynch said most of the work would begin in Wilburham and that the upgrades would stop near an existing pole (Pole 69) about halfway down Glendale Road.Concerns raised by board members focused on three poles—identified in the petition as 76 50, 72 50 and an overhead run at 73 6—that the town’s Conservation Commission had recommended against in March 2024 because they lie in or adjacent to a wetland buffer tied to the proposed Glendale Solar LLC project. The board said those poles cannot be installed until the solar project receives approval from the earlier environmental hearing. Board member Paul moved to deny the petition and Eric seconded; the motion carried on an affirmative vote.Board members and the petitioner agreed the reliability improvements were legitimate but said the application’s scope overlapped with a separate, unresolved land-use and environmental review. The Select Board noted National Grid may return with a reduced proposal that omits the poles located within the buffer once the solar project’s status is resolved. The public hearing was then closed.