Council delays Eversource, Verizon easements; sends petitions to joint committee

The Springfield City Council voted unanimously Monday to send six utility petitions from Eversource and one from Verizon to a joint Maintenance & Development and Economic Development committee for further review.

Councilor James Brown pressed the motion after questioning whether the city and residents understand how utility upgrades affect consumer bills and how companies allocate costs and profits. "We're gonna reconstruct this...and then now we're gonna charge the customers this amount of money for doing it," Brown said, urging the council to "slow down a lot of this and put it in committees." Councilor John Curran seconded the motion.

The petitions include routine easements and infrastructure work. Hector Velez, the city engineer, told the council the Westwood petition from Eversource would replace roughly 2,000 feet of gas line (from Northampton Avenue to Norfolk Street) with plastic pipe; he also answered questions about an underground Verizon run on Maple Street of about 109 feet. Don Bonner of Verizon identified himself for the record earlier when the Maple Street petition was discussed.

Councilors who spoke in favor of the referral cited two main concerns: the potential cost pass-through to customers (delivery or distribution charges) and poor coordination between utility work and city road repaving. "There's a lack of communication with that utility, and there's a lack of transparency," Councilor Curran said, adding that constituents are seeing higher delivery charges and disrupted roads after repair work.

Councilor Golan, who said many constituents have complained that delivery charges are nearly double supply charges, and Councilor Santonello, who noted an upcoming public meeting with Eversource at the Ray Jordan Center, supported the move. Councilor Walsh asked whether petitions originate with the utility or with residents; Hector Velez said petitions come from Eversource.

The motion to refer items 2 through 7 to committee was called to a roll and passed by voice/roll call. The referral directs the petitions to the Maintenance & Development Committee with joint review from Economic Development for the financial implications. Councilor Brown and Councilor Curran said they plan to schedule the joint meeting in the coming weeks.

The referral does not approve or deny any easement or construction; it sends the petitions for additional review and potential recommendations back to the council.

Votes at the meeting confirmed the referral. The clerk's roll call recorded the vote as affirmative and sufficient to send items 2–7 to committee.

The council also recorded specific item details on the public record: the Maple Street Verizon petition was represented in the meeting field inspection by Mr. Bonner and city staff; the Westwood (Eversource) petition involves the Upper Hill neighborhood and a 2,000-foot replacement. Councilors asked staff to report back with documentation showing whether specific petitions were requested by constituents, how work would be scheduled against city paving projects, and clearer information on how costs are passed to customers.

The committee referral is procedural; any decision to grant an easement or approve construction will return to the full council after committee review.

Ending: The council indicated Brown and Curran will coordinate dates for the joint committee and that staff will gather additional cost, notification and coordination information from Eversource and the city's Department of Public Works ahead of that meeting.