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Georgia Power seeks easements in Albany for underground fiber and a substation tie-line; city staff outline conditions
Summary
Georgia Power representatives briefed commissioners on requests to convert overhead fiber to underground at two city-owned parcels and to install a tie line across Rails‑to‑Trails property for a new substation; staff described compensation and technical requirements and flagged a time-sensitive schedule due to weather and construction timetables.
Georgia Power representatives briefed the City Commission April 20 on multiple easement requests across city-owned property, including undergrounding fiber-optic communications lines at Blaylock and Rena Avenue and a 0.7-acre tie-line easement across Rails‑to‑Trails property in Lee County to connect a new substation.
Melanie Cramer, representing Georgia Power, told commissioners the aging overhead communications line used for outage reporting will be replaced by an underground bored conduit within existing easement corridors; the company provided a nominal compensation formula (an additional 10% of land value over the original transmission right-of-way valuation) and said boring minimizes surface disturbance.
Zach Lucky, also with Georgia Power, explained the substation tie line would cross a thin sliver of the city’s Rails‑to‑Trails corridor; the easement was appraised at roughly $10,000 per acre and the requested crossing totals about 0.7 acres. Staff and commissioners discussed the rails-to-trails restrictions, required 30-foot corridor preservation for potential railroad reactivation, and city protections to ensure the trail and utility crossings remain compatible.
Commissioners asked about appraisal formulas and whether the city should obtain a second appraisal; staff offered to procure additional appraisal information if the commission desired. A staff member flagged the request as time-sensitive to meet Georgia Power’s weather-and-construction timetable and suggested expedited consideration at a special call if necessary.
