Longfellow residents pushed for high-profile design to minimize disruption of trees planted at Hiawatha and 28th Street
by Tesha M. Christensen
Neighborhood advocates are pleased with the Public Utilities Commission 4-1 vote to require Xcel Energy to place high voltage lines underground along 28th Street rather than overhead along the Midtown Greenway.
“We’re thrilled with the news that the power lines will be buried under 28th street. It’s been a long struggle, over many years,” said Midtown Greenway Coalition Executive Director Soren Jensen.
“Our coalition brought neighborhood groups together to provide a unified voice against the lines in the Greenway,” he added. “We hired an attorney, and worked together with the neighborhood groups to oppose the lines in the Greenway.”
The decision about the power lines was made following a day of testimony on Jan. 10, 2012 and another meeting on Jan. 12, ending a three-year permitting process.
In addition to placing two 115-kilovolt transmission lines underground for 1.5 miles, two distribution substations will be built on either end, one in the Longfellow neighborhood at Hiawatha and 28th Street. The entire project will cost $40 million.
The commission delayed deciding who will pay for the additional $13 million cost of burying the lines for another six months to gather more public input and information. It may be split between Xcel customers in Minneapolis, customers in Hennepin County or the total Xcel customer base.
Construction will be complete in 2014. The lines will be placed as close as possible to the middle of 28th Street, which will remain partially open during construction.
DESTRUCTION OF GREEN SPACE
Longfellow Community Council (LCC) Housing and Environment Coordinator Spencer Agnew spoke during the Jan. 10 public hearing on behalf of the LCC. The community council joined with other neighborhood organizations to support placing two 115-kilovolt transmission lines underground. That line will run through the Phillips neighborhood from Hiawatha to Oakland Avenue South.
Agnew pointed out, “All of the impacted neighborhoods opposed the placement of the Hiawatha Substation on the Hiawatha West site. The Hiawatha West site had been the focus of neighborhood planning and investment for years to develop a community green space.”
The neighborhood council had pushed for the substation to be located off Hiawatha at 32nd Street, in an area that is currently empty.
The land on the east side of the Sabo bridge has been the focus of Arbor Day tree-planting events in an effort to transform the “brown space” into “green space.”
According to Longfellow Community Council Environment and Transportation Committee member Eric Hart, when the Sabo Midtown Greenway Bridge over Hiawatha Avenue was built in 2007, the entire area on the east side of Hiawatha Avenue from 26th Street south to the railroad tracks was identified as green space and a gateway area to the bridge and the Longfellow/Seward section of the Midtown Greenway.
Midtown Community Works Partnership (MCWP), a coalition of government entities, the Midtown Greenway Coalition, and private businesses with a presence along the Midtown Greenway, organized Arbor Day tree plantings in the space in both 2008 and 2009. During the first year, the area closest to the Sabo Bridge was planted with 234 trees and shrubs by over 200 volunteers. The next year, the group focused on the area where Hiawatha substation will be constructed. Approximately 150 volunteers planted 258 trees and shrubs there in April 2009.
In addition to loss of green space and conflicts with 10 years of land use planning, the Hiawatha West site has the following problems, according to Agnew:
• A Hiawatha West substation is very close to affordable housing – the substation design could affect noise as well as views from adjacent apartments.
• A Hiawatha West substation would be visible from both the Midtown Greenway and the new $5.2 million Sabo Bridge, providing visual impacts both on trail users and LRT passengers at the gateway to south Minneapolis.
• A “low profile” substation could use up the entire site, preventing replacement of trees and green space and also preventing development of a planned bike trail connection from the Greenway to Lake Street.
Longfellow and other neighborhood parties requested specific mitigation measures if the Hiawatha West site were determined to be the only feasible choice for a substation:
1. That the high-profile smaller footprint of the substation be used to protect the Greenway and trail extension to Lake Street.
2. That connecting high voltage lines and feeder lines be placed underground to reduce impacts.
3. That an artist should be involved in the design of the substation and consideration given to using berms and digging below grade to reduce visual impacts.
4. That walls should surround all four sides of the substation and that walls be made graffiti resistant, potentially by planting vegetation to cover them.
5. That plantings and landscaping consistent with the Midtown Greenway landscaping plan be provided on all four sides of the substation.
The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission did not explicitly adopt any of these specific items recommended by the Longfellow Community Council; however, it did adopt those made by Administrative Law Judge Beverly Jones Heydinger with a few slight changes:
“The substation shall be designed and constructed to minimize the impact of the project on the persons living and working in close proximity to it to the extent practicable. The HVTL Route Permit shall contain procedures which allow an opportunity for the parties of record to provide input into a) placement of the Hiawatha West Substation on the approved site, b) the substation’s wall design, lighting and landscaping. These efforts will be made to minimize disruption to the current and planned Midtown Greenway bicycle and pedestrian trails, to minimize the aesthetic impact, and assure compatibility with the surrounding structures to the extent practicable.”
The first opportunity to impact design will be offered to the city and county, not community organizations or the public, according to former Midtown Greenway Coalition Executive Director Tim Springer. “However, there may be opportunities for community members or a few individuals representing them to engage with the process in round one if invited to do so by city or county elected officials.”
Hart stated, “We are disappointed that other locations were not looked at further or a different configuration on the site that Xcel wanted was not worked out that would minimize damage to the plantings.
“The conditions that were put in place by the [Administrative Law] Judge are to our liking and LCC looks forward to working with Xcel Energy and other relevant organizations to make the substation as acceptable as it could be given its size and configuration.”
NEED FOR TRANSMISSION LINE
The Hiawatha Transmission Line will carry 55 megawatts of power, enough to serve 50,000 customers. According to the certificate of need filed by Xcel, the Hiawatha Project will provide the transmission capacity needed to maintain reliable service to the area and to support continued economic development in the future. Energy demand has increased due to the development of the Midtown Exchange, the construction of high-density development along the lightrail corridor, and improvements along the Chicago Avenue corridor by Abbott Northwestern and Children’s Hospitals.
Xcel maintains, “The Hiawatha Project will provide the transmission capacity needed to maintain reliable service to the area and to support continued economic development in the future.”
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ABOUT THE HIAWATHA TRANSMISSION PROJECT
• Xcel initially applied for a permit on April 24, 2009 to construct two new 115 kV single circuit transmission lines approximately 1.5 miles in length and two new distribution substations in the Midtown District.
• The Hiawatha Substation will be approximately 2.25 acres in size. It will be located on the east side of Hiawatha Avenue slightly south of the intersection of Hiawatha Avenue and East 28th Street. Currently this site is an open area owned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, no business relocation would be needed.
The estimated cost for construction of the Hiawatha West substation site is $14.3 million.
• The underground transmission lines shall be placed in a concrete duct system. The underground line will require two identical concrete duct banks, containing four 6-inch PVC conduits for transmission circuits and two 2-inch PVC conduits for ground continuity and communication needs.
THE ISSUES
• Magnetic field exposure to residents and Midtown Greenway trail users in the area if the lines were above ground.
• Disruption of Midtown Greenway aesthetics if high voltage lines were erected on the trail.
• Loss of trees planted by volunteers on the east side of the Sabo Bridge if the Hiawatha West substation was built there.
• Disruption of planned trail connection from the Greenway to Lake Street by the Hiawatha West substation building.
• Cost to residents: who will pay the increased $13 million cost to run the power lines underground? Minneapolis residents or Xcel’s entire customer base?
Story printed in the February edition of the Longfellow/Nokomis Messenger. longfellownokomismessenger.com
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