Leesburg Council Objects to Power Pole Site

Dominion Project Worries Neighbors

By Jonathan Mummolo (Contact)

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Leesburg officials proposed an alternative site this week for a steel pole more than 100 feet high that Dominion Virginia Power plans to install behind a residential neighborhood as part of a new transmission line.

A state transportation engineer, however, said the suggested site might be too close to the Route 7 Bypass and could interfere with long-term plans to widen the highway.

Dominion officials want to install the tower behind a cul-de-sac on Wage Drive, and the utility bought a house on the street in July so it could access the site. Those plans have drawn ire from residents, who say the pole would be an eyesore that would drive down property values, as well as from Leesburg Town Council members.

According to Dominion, the pole — one of many that will carry the 230,000-volt transmission line that Dominion is building from Leesburg to Hamilton — must be located within a Virginia Department of Transportation easement that runs along the Route 7 Bypass, which backs up to Wage Drive.

On Monday, council members proposed a location that is within that easement but about 230 feet east of the Wage Drive cul-de-sac. The alternative site is farther from residences, and it would preserve the trees behind Wage Drive that serve as a noise and visual buffer from traffic on the bypass, Leesburg Mayor Kristen C. Umstattd said. The pole would be about 20 feet from the shoulder of the bypass.

"It wouldn't put it in anybody else's back yard, it would just put it farther away," Umstattd said.

The mayor said the council planned to send letters to state and congressional leaders urging them to support the alternative location. "I don't think the Town of Leesburg can wield enough pressure on Dominion alone," she said.

Les O'Donnell, Dominion's project manager for the transmission line, said the utility will consider the town's suggestion. But, he said, Dominion must evaluate how the suggested location would affect the design, construction, safety and maintenance of the pole. "We certainly are open to this. We just have to work through those details," he said.

One potential problem is that the council's proposed site is so close to the shoulder of the bypass, said VDOT transportation engineer Jim Zeller, who noted that VDOT's long-term plan calls for the road to be widened in about 20 years.

Zeller said that although it's not unusual for VDOT to relocate utilities when it expands a road, it could be difficult and costly to move a pole that connects to a major transmission line.

There are also safety issues, he said. The 30-foot zone adjacent to a highway travel lane is supposed to free of hazardous objects. "Putting the pole right at the edge of the existing shoulder would be pretty undesirable from the department's perspective," Zeller said. "Without having some engineering analysis to back that up, I don't know how that would work."

Officials from Leesburg, Dominion and VDOT plan to meet this month to discuss the council's proposal and other options.

Photo: Marvin Joseph

Dorene and Mike Napierkowski, Terry Titus, Laura and Martin Strohmeier with their grandson Ethan O'Leary, 2, and several Wage Drive residents oppose a Dominion Virginia Power transmission line pole that will be constructed right behind the houses in this cul-de-sac. Dominion recently purchased one of the homes so they could gain access to the pole site.

Last week, the utility held a public meeting attended by state lawmakers, town and VDOT representatives and about 30 residents from Wage Drive and a nearby street. O'Donnell said Dominion took recommendations from the community about alternative sites and will not make a final decision until Dec. 6, at the earliest.

After learning that Dominion had bought the three-bedroom house on Wage Drive, the council sent letters last month to state and congressional leaders saying that the utility had not kept the community informed about its plans.

"I'm hoping that they stick with their word and let everyone know in advance before they start with chain saws," council member Thomas S. Dunn II said.

Dominion officials said they will not clear trees or do other work related to the pole until a final site is chosen. Even then, "we don't just go in and remove vegetation within a swath of land," Dominion spokeswoman Le-Ha Anderson said. "We will selectively remove those trees that could potentially pose a danger to the transmission line."

Dominion has said it needs to build the 12-mile transmission line to keep up with population growth in western Loudoun.

Tagged: Dominion Power, Leesburg, Leesburg Town Council, power line

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