State Rep. Conroy Urging Residents to Write to NSTAR

NSTAR has continued its march through the right-of-way under high-voltage lines in Wayland's Oak Hill Road and Meadowview Road neighborhoods, but Rep. Tom Conroy (D-Wayland) wants to make sure residents continue to speak up.

Even as large swaths of land have been cleared to the ground, Conroy has been working with residents who are pushing NSTAR to provide mitigation in the form of new plantings and fully cleaning up the cut down debris left behind.

Earlier this week Conroy told Sudbury Patch he's keeping a close eye on NSTAR and suggested residents put in writing their expections for mitigation to the utility company, so to create a paper trail.

Conroy provided a sample letter written by an affected homeowner in Framingham. That sample is included below:

Specifically, I am looking for the following on the side yard that adjoins the grass of my property:

1) Removal of debris and leveling of the property to smooth ditches caused by the heavy machinery, from the Eastern point of the easement all the way North to Pelham Island Road.  Our property extends to Pelham.

2) Sod and seed with grass, extending the lawn width (that currently exists along Guzzlebrook) back to Pelham Island Road and to the east side of the easement.

3) Plant appropriate plantings along the border zone of the easement to be discussed with Bill and Weston Nursery to create a yard boundary.

4) Extend our irrigation system to cover the new grass areas of the yard.

5) Repair/replace existing sprinkler heads and disturbed underground cabling.

6) Provide a written statement from Nstar that they will not use chemical treatments on the side yard where there will be grass to accompany the organic lawn already in place.

When this is complete I will take on responsibility for mowing, landscaping and watering so future Nstar maintenance will be minimal. At this point I am not clear on tree removal on our existing lawn so will further advise after Bill and I meet on our property.

Thank you for your help in this matter.

The sample also includes a detailed spreadsheet of the costs and plantings the homeowner expects NSTAR to undertake as part of the mitigation efforts for the property.

Earlier this week, Sudbury Patch captured video of a resident's yard both before and after NSTAR cleared 22 trees from the property. The same right-of-way affecting Wayland residents is also impacting Sudbury, Framingham and other communities.