Paragonah board discusses 7200V power upgrade; seeks easements from several property owners

At the Feb. 11 meeting, Paragonah officials described plans to upgrade the town electrical distribution from an aging 2400-volt system to a 7200-volt system to improve reliability and enable three-phase power to a planned well.

Mark Barton, who discussed routing options with the Power Board, said the west side of town has already been upgraded and that the east side still needs conversion. He said running a new line up center street would be more expensive and complicated because of trees and other obstructions, so the town proposes running the new line from 200 East by the Max Partner property through 300 South. To do that the town would need 15-foot easements from several property owners, and Barton listed specific parcels where poles would be sited: three poles on Kay Lister’s property and additional poles on the properties of Josh Eisenach, Chris Robb and Kelly Oldroyd near the corner.

Property owners in attendance expressed concerns about maintaining access to their homes during construction. Kim Oldroyd asked whether driveway and access would be preserved; the board assured residents they would have access while work occurs. Barton said the town would seek a single easement document prepared by a title company to be signed by affected owners rather than creating separate easements for each parcel.

The board described the 2400 system as obsolete and noted that if a failure occurred on the east side it could be difficult to source replacement parts quickly. The upgrade would also help deliver three-phase power needed for the new well. No formal vote was taken at the meeting; the board asked affected property owners to consider the request and report back to Mayor Dakota Veater or another board member.