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Council hears National Grid petition to add pole for EV chargers on Pine Street
Summary
At a public hearing, National Grid described a single stub pole proposed on Corteselli Street to provide overhead service for EV chargers at 140 Pine Street; councilors asked about abutter notification, sidewalk clearance and nearby accessibility issues. The petition was closed and included on the consent agenda.
National Grid told the Northampton City Council on Thursday night that it is seeking permission to install a single utility pole on Corteselli (Corteselli) Street to provide service to 140 Pine Street for planned electric vehicle chargers.
"We're proposing this stub pole...to provide service to the existing building for the EV chargers," a National Grid representative said, explaining that an overhead pole is required because underground connection across a public road is not allowed.
Councilors asked whether neighbors were notified and whether the pole would obstruct the sidewalk. "There wasn't any abutters" on that side of the street, the National Grid representative said, and the company said the pole has been staked on the grass side of the right-of-way and would be placed north of the sidewalk.
Councilor Stratton asked staff and the utility to note an existing pole farther down Pine Street that currently splits the sidewalk and creates an accessibility problem in the corridor; the council president reminded members the public hearing must be limited to the petitioned pole placement.
After the presentation and questions, a motion to close the public hearing was made and seconded; according to the clerk's roll call the closure passed, with at least one councilor recording a dissent on the voice roll. The petition (agenda item 26.044) was later included on the consent agenda and approved by roll-call vote.
What happens next: The National Grid petition will remain on the council's agenda for the formal, final action recorded on the consent agenda. The council asked the utility to be mindful of sidewalk and accessibility concerns in that corridor.
(Reporting from the council's remote meeting; quotations and decisions reflect the council's recorded proceedings.)
