Planning Board approves Eversource pole replacements; waives engineer seal for non‑grading work

The Concord City Planning Board on June 18 approved multiple conditional use permits for replacement of six utility poles owned by Eversource along Garvin Falls Road and granted a waiver so plans need not be signed and sealed by a licensed professional engineer.

Connor Addison of GZA GeoEnvironmental described the project as structure replacement only: annual inspections identified poles with wood rot and damage, and Eversource will replace six wooden poles with steel structures. “No clearing of trees. No additional distribution lines. No additional transmission lines,” Addison said. The contractor will use an existing gravel road about 400 feet out and employ timber matting for temporary access; the mats will be removed when work is complete. The work will include temporary, not permanent, disturbance of shoreland, bluff and wetland buffers.

Planning staff recommended the board find the application complete and noted receipt of regional commission comments. The applicant requested a waiver from section 12.03.2 (requiring a professional engineer to sign and seal plans that show grading, drainage, or utilities). Staff supported the waiver because the project involves no grading, drainage, or new utilities; the board approved the waiver and then approved the CUPs with precedent and subsequent conditions that include an engineering‑level erosion‑control plan to be provided (staff asked for a broken‑out erosion control plan even if not signed and sealed by an engineer).

The applicant also clarified the work occurs on Eversource property (no third‑party easements required) and that required state wetland and alteration‑of‑terrain permits had been obtained for the three towns crossed by the line.