Politics & Government

Official Opposition Lining Up Against Power Lines Along Parkway

Tosa alderman, county supervisor will introduce twin resolutions opposing Underwood route, supporting alternatives.

Opposition from neighborhoods and institutions in the paths of new power lines proposed to serve the growing energy needs of the County Grounds is getting a boost from three government bodies.

A Wauwatosa alderman and the Milwaukee County supervisor representing most of Wauwatosa will soon introduce matching resolutions opposing any route for the lines along in West Tosa, either overhead or underground.

Meanwhile, a Milwaukee Common Council committee has already approved a resolution of opposition to having overhead towers carry another proposed line from the south that .

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American Transmission Co. (ATC) has proposed the two 138,000-volt lines and stated a preference for the least expensive options, which are overhead lines.

Ald. Dennis McBride and County Supervisor Jim "Luigi" Schmitt have sent Wauwatosa Patch drafts of resolutions that would put the city and the county in opposition to any power line along Underwood Creek Parkway.

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"I don't think it should follow the parkway at all," McBride said. "We all recognize the need for power. But it's all dollars and cents. Sometimes you have to make a greater investment to preserve the quality of the community."

McBride said that an alternate, buried route along Watertown Plank Road that could be installed during reconstruction of the Zoo Interchange was acceptable to the state Department of Transportation.

"It's been offered to ATC by the DOT," he said. "I want it all underground."

Candidates for mayor support resolution

All three candidates for mayor of Wauwatosa have said that they support McBride's resolution to some degree.

Candidate John Pokrandt was unequivocal. "I wholeheartedly support it," he said, "and oppose having power lines along the parkway. It's just common sense."

Kathy Ehley, now the executive director of the Village of Wauwatosa Business Improvement District and a mayoral hopeful, said: "I support not having any overhead lines. I know we need additional power on the County Grounds, but not at any cost to those neighborhoods."

Ald. Peter Donegan added: "I will probably support it, but I want to have a public hearing, which is proposed for Jan. 31. I don't really want to see any overhead lines. I would need to hear a very compelling argument from ATC.

"I think avoiding seeing overhead lines is worth something. But I think we'll be in a more credible position if we formally move the City of Wauwatosa into a position based on community input."

Ald. Cheryl Berdan, who represents the neighborhoods that would be affected, also supports McBride's intent, but said she had seen a draft and not the final resolution.

"From what I saw, I would certainly support the lines not being on the parkway and on our green spaces," she said. "I understand the need for the power."

An ATC representative said that it would not be the company's decision where the power lines would go and how they would be carried.

"In our application to the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin next month, we are proposing both overhead and underground route options for transmission lines," said Anne Spaltholz, manager of corporate communications. "The PSC will decide on the final routes for the new transmission lines."

Milwaukee also opposing overhead lines

Milwaukee Ald. Michael Murphy last week introduced a resolution that opposes overhead lines on a second, southern route to provide 138,000 additional volts to the County Grounds institutions.

The Judiciary Committee voted 5-0 to support Murphy's resolution to have the lines buried on a route that passes within yards of the Milwaukee Montessori School just south of the Wauwatosa border. More than 40 Wauwatosa families send their children to the school.

Montessori students packed the committee chamber last week, testifying and carrying signs opposing the lines, which school families say are not only aesthetically displeasing but more importantly dangerous to children.

Scientific studies of the effect of high-energy overhead power lines are inconclusive. Opponents at the school say uncertainty is not good enough when developing children's health is at stake.

Not only were the members of the Milwaukee Judiciary Committee swayed by the children to support Murphy's proposal unanimously, they also unanimously agreed to sign on as co-sponsors of the measure.

As in the western route, the Wisconsin DOT has said that buried lines could be incorporated into the Zoo Interchange project, and that trenching along the eastern side of Interstate 894/Highway 45 is already planned and could accommodate the new lines.

ATC has said that the cost of buried lines is much higher than that of overhead lines and it is bound to propose the lower cost alternative as preferred because the final costs will be passed along to rate-payers.

The UWM Real Estate Foundation and Milwaukee Regional Medical Center have already on the County Grounds east of the freeway.

Neighbors in both affected neighborhoods in Tosa and Milwaukee have formed organized efforts against the lines and both have launched websites, Montessori's Bury the Lines and the Underwood neighborhood's Preserve Our Parkway.


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