ORLEANS – The cost of moving transmission lines over Cedar Pond continues to be a sticking point between the Town of Orleans and Eversource.
Town officials have been asking the utility company for years to move the lines as cormorants rest on the wires and their waste is a major pollution source in the pond.
The two sides agreed that the 25,000 volt distribution lines would be re-routed along Rock Harbor Rd, Locust Rd, Canal Rd, and Jones Rd.
But selectmen have balked at splitting the $950,000 cost with the company, saying that they don’t profit from the lines and that it does not serve their residents.
“We informed the court that the parties had come to a preferred alternate location and route for the lines to be relocated to, but we’re still in the process of discussing the economics of that relocation,” said Orleans Town Counsel Michael Ford.
Attorneys for both parties have met in Orleans District Court recently where Judge Robert Welsh set a pre-trial date for February 13.
“If we could not report on or before that time that we had reached a consensus, then on the February 13 pre-trial, he would set a trial date for the matter,” said Ford.
By JUSTIN SAUNDERS, CapeCod.com Newscenter
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