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Leominster council keeps National Grid pole hearings open after residents’ questions go unanswered
Summary
National Grid representatives told a Leominster subcommittee the Marguerite Avenue project replaces aging poles and adds equipment to support a solar interconnection, but councilors kept two related public hearings open until abutters are personally contacted and their concerns addressed.
Carrie Noseworthy, chair of the Public Service Subcommittee, kept two National Grid public hearings open after National Grid said it had not yet answered questions from all abutters over planned pole work on Marguerite Avenue.
Noseworthy said residents raised issues at an earlier meeting and the clerk supplied contact information; she asked National Grid staff to reach out so the council could move forward. “We can't really move on with the petition until we make sure that everybody's gotten their questions answered,” the chair said. Nico, the National Grid representative, told the committee the work is part of an interconnection for a solar customer and includes replacing 13 poles and installing two new poles — one a tap pole and another for a capacitor bank that helps regulate voltage on the feeder.
Councilors repeated that the public‑petition process requires direct outreach to abutters before the council can recommend action. At‑large Councilor Robbins asked the clerk to provide the list of constituents who attended the prior hearing so National Grid could contact them; other members said the petitions are separate for council purposes even if the utility treats them as part of the same project.
The committee emphasized that some affected parties — including a nearby car wash and at least one neighbor identified in earlier testimony — still need answers. The chair said the public hearing for petition 38‑26 and the related 39‑26 will remain open and be continued at the next subcommittee meeting to give National Grid time to follow up with residents.
Next steps: the subcommittee left both hearings open and scheduled continuations at the next available meeting so abutters can be contacted and their questions addressed before the council votes on the petitions.
