Council approves seven easements to advance Lowell Light & Power undergrounding and reliability projects

The Lowell City Council approved a resolution to accept seven easements requested by Lowell Light & Power to support utility upgrades in the coming fiscal year.

Charlie, speaking for Lowell Light & Power, described two main projects: an overhead-to-underground voltage-conversion along Main Street (requiring coordination with Comcast to remove attachments from poles) and a reliability project in the Alton Nash/G Drive neighborhood that consolidates multiple overhead feeds. Charlie said the Light & Power board reviewed the easement package in November and recommended council acceptance so the utility can proceed.

Council members asked whether trees would be removed as part of the undergrounding work. Charlie replied that no trees would be removed; crews would use horizontal boring to install conduit and then pull cable underground. He added that underground cable can reduce the frequency of outages but does not eliminate the potential for cable failure and longer repair times when underground systems need work.

A motion to accept the easements (resolution 20-25) and authorize the mayor to execute them passed with roll-call-style responses that included Salcedo (yes), Chambers (yes), DeVore (yes), and one council member marked absent. The city attorney and Light & Power staff had reviewed maps and easement language prior to the meeting, according to the presenter.

Council and staff said the projects are intended to improve reliability and remove aging overhead infrastructure in targeted corridors.