March 1, 2009
By John Laidler/The Boston Globe

City councilors last Tuesday authorized up to $4 million in borrowing to relocate power lines from Lynn's waterfront, even as the long-awaited project faced potential new delays because of opposition from commercial landowners.

The unanimous council action provided a fresh boost for a project that city leaders have long promoted as a key to revitalizing the waterfront. It follows a $2.5 million state grant for the project awarded last year.

"I'm very pleased," said Mayor Edward J. Clancy Jr. "The power lines have to be moved. It's a complicated, convoluted, costly project."

Power lines would be relocated away from the 50-acre Lynn waterfront to make way for mixed use development under the city's plan. (File 2006/The Boston Globe)

Proponents say removing the power lines from the approximately 50-acre oceanfront land, known as the South Harbor site, would open the area to development and help reinvigorate the entire waterfront.

"This is really untapped land that would bring in significant dollars that the city desperately needs to maintain services," said James Cowdell, executive director of the Lynn Economic Development & Industrial Corporation, which is heading up the project for the city. "Plus, this would absolutely change the face of Lynn in a positive way."

But opposition from several property owners along the proposed relocation route remains and could potentially delay the project by six months to a year. Starting at the General Edwards Bridge, the relocated lines would extend along the west side of the Lynnway, crossing it at Harding Street.

"None of them wish to see these lines relocated as proposed," said Kenneth Shutzer, an attorney for one of the landowners, Kenneth Carpi. "They don't want to put their properties at risk for whatever gain there may or may not be for the other property owners on the water side that are the direct beneficiaries of relocating these lines."

Shutzer said the landowners would support the project if the lines were placed underground, which they believed until recently was the plan. He said they fear overhead lines could lower the value of their properties and their ability to lease them, and that the construction could disrupt Lynnway business.

Cowdell said National Grid has told the city burying the lines is not technically or financially feasible.

Shutzer recently filed a motion on behalf of Carpi and four other property owners asking that they be allowed to intervene in an ongoing state Department of Public Utilities hearing considering National Grid's application to relocate its poles.

National Grid has agreed to undertake the approximately $6.5 million relocation as long as its share of the costs do not exceed the approximately $800,000 it had planned to invest in upgrading the power lines, Cowdell said.

Lynn officials also anticipate having to pursue eminent domain proceedings to secure needed aerial easements for the project from Carpi and one of the other landowners, Donald Algini, according to Cowdell. He said the easements are needed for both sites because some of the new poles would be located within 40 feet.

Carpi is principal of a trust that owns the Lynnway site, which includes Logan Furniture. Algini is principal of a trust that owns another site where he operates an automotive business, according to Shutzer.

An intervention by the landowners could delay a Department of Public Utilities decision by six to 12 months and cost the city up to $300,000 in legal fees, Cowdell said. He said the city also would incur undetermined costs from the eminent domain cases. But he is unfazed by the latest obstacle.

"If this were an easy thing to get done, it would have been done 30 years ago," he said.

"For the past three years, there has been hurdle after hurdle. We're almost in the end zone."

National Grid, which owns the majority of the South Harbor site, has expressed a willingness to dispose of it for development once the poles are relocated, Cowdell said. He said Boston businessman Joseph O'Donnell, who owns the remainder of the site, is looking to develop his property if the poles are removed.

National Grid spokeswoman Jackie Barry said in a statement, "We have worked closely on this project with the city of Lynn to help the city achieve its economic development objectives while continuing to deliver electricity to our customers safely, reliably, and efficiently. We will continue to work with the city to move the project forward."

The city also has secured a needed easement from General Electric, which owns about 70 percent of the land on which the new poles will sit.

Garelick Farms has also agreed to an easement.

Patrick McGrath, who owns commercial land next to the South Harbor site, has agreed to provide the city with $300,000 if the power lines are relocated.

O'Donnell has informally committed to $1 million, Cowdell said.

Cowdell is also optimistic the city will receive the $3 million it requested for the project from the federal stimulus package.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.