Council approves multiple National Grid/Verizon pole relocations and undergrounding petitions after brief hearings

The Haverhill City Council on Oct. 21 opened hearings and approved multiple petitions from National Grid and Verizon to relocate poles and to install underground facilities at several locations.

Petitions approved on the consent calendar included WR‑31150941 (Garfield Street), WR‑31188397 (High Street, installation of a mid‑span pole to house reliability equipment), WR‑31188400 (Rogers Road), WR‑31188421 (Ward Hill Avenue), and WR‑31140177 (Back Lane — installation of roughly 450 feet of underground primary and a 25 kVA transformer to serve a customer at 20 Back Lane).

At the Back Lane hearing a resident, Janice Bruce, expressed concern that trees in a waterfront memorial garden might be cut; National Grid’s representative said the job entails tapping existing primary and running underground conduit and reported that the designer had told him no tree removals were planned. A nearby property owner, Vin Kelly, who said he owns the Back Lane parcel, supported the undergrounding effort and explained that earlier dead ash and beech trees had been removed for safety; he said additional tree work along the easement was not expected. Councilors asked National Grid to confirm there would be no additional tree removal; after discussion the council approved the petition.

All of the petitions that went to roll call were approved; the record for the Back Lane petition shows the council considered resident concerns and sought confirmation from the utility before approving the underground installation.