Participant at Lowell City meeting opposes approving new utility poles until paired poles are removed

A participant at a Lowell City meeting said they will no longer approve applications for new utility poles if existing paired or "double" poles are not removed first. The comment, voiced early in the discussion, framed the issue as a condition for future approvals.

The person raising the objection, identified in the transcript only as Unidentified Speaker 1, said, "I do not wanna keep approving poles being installed without the double poles being removed going forward." Unidentified Speaker 2 responded that the typical removal sequence starts with the city removing its own wires to allow others to work on the pole, followed by private carriers: "usually, it's Comcast, and then Verizon is the last person to remove their stuff from the pole, and then the pole gets removed by Verizon when they do that." Speaker 2 also said a system notifies stakeholders when work is complete and offered to contact Verizon about the request.

Speaker 1 clarified that the double-pole concern was not on the meeting agenda but related to ongoing approvals: "I mean, this is the approval for new poles, and what I don't wanna approve anymore going forward if they're not removed." When asked how many double poles exist in the city, Speaker 2 said they had not been briefed and did not know the number.

Following the exchange, Unidentified Speaker 2 said they would reach out to the town manager to address the issue and that the manager or a designee could follow up with Speaker 1. No formal motion or vote was recorded during the exchange.

Next steps noted in the discussion: staff will contact the town manager and reach out to Verizon about the specific request to coordinate removal of paired poles before approving new installations.