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Resident says county letter to PSC failed to reflect public push to bury proposed transmission line
Summary
At a Sept. 29 Sheridan County staff meeting, a resident criticized a recently ratified county letter to the Public Service Commission, saying it did not reflect public calls to bury a proposed Montana-Dakota Utilities transmission line and that the letter could expose property owners to losing land for new easements.
A Sheridan County resident told the Board of County Commissioners on Monday, Sept. 29, that a letter the commission sent last week to the Public Service Commission (PSC) did not reflect months of public comment urging that a proposed Montana‑Dakota Utilities (MDU) transmission line be buried rather than routed overhead. The resident said the letter had not been available for public review before it was sent.
The remarks came during the county—s regular staff meeting when a speaker identified only as Carmine addressed the commissioners. "I did not have an opportunity to be here at that moment," Carmine said of the meeting when the letter was ratified, and "from what my understanding, the letter was not available to the general public for review." Carmine added, "you guys did not read the letter at this meeting," and said that the public had been overwhelmingly in favor of burying the line.
Carmine questioned language in the county—s letter that, according to the speaker, encouraged the PSC to "help Sheridan County protect their core values by granting permission to MDU to install this line in an alternative routing through existing easements." Carmine said easements along the county roads do not exist for the proposed route and that moving the line onto the county roads would require abandoning private lands. "There is no transmission line easement along the county roads. There's no room for it," Carmine said, and noted that covenants for two local subdivisions—Little Goose and Sandstone—require buried utilities.
Carmine also read excerpts of a formal complaint filed with the PSC by Frank and Georgia Bolden, saying the Boldens' complaint argued the community's only acceptable solution would be to bury the line. The resident said it was unclear whether the county letter endorsed or protested that complaint.
When asked for comment about the letter, the meeting—s presiding official said the commission could not discuss the matter because of "probably impending litigation." The official did not elaborate.
No formal action on the letter was taken at the Sept. 29 staff meeting, and commissioners did not open the matter for public discussion at that time.
The transcript records that Commissioner Arzley led the original draft of the letter and that the draft was edited before being sent, but the commission did not present the letter for public review at the meeting in which it was ratified, the speaker said. The county did not provide further clarification at the meeting, citing litigation risk.
The transcript does not record a formal vote or any new direction to staff regarding the PSC letter during the Sept. 29 meeting.
