By Gillian Graham
Staff Writer

Standing near the power transmission lines that run between Saco Middle School and her neighborhood, Cynthia Chadwick-Granger shook her head.
“I’ve been put in a corner to say ‘‘shift” or “no shift” and I don’t like it because what I want they can’t do,” she said.
What Chadwick-Granger wants is for high-voltage transmission lines in the area to be buried when they are upgraded next year as part of Central Maine Power Company’s Saco Bay Transmission System Reinforcement Project.
Power company officials say burying the lines in the wooded area separating the school campus and the Sierra Woods subdivision is not an option unless the city foots the bill.
Instead, CMP is now asking abutters if they prefer keeping lines in the existing corridor or shifting them 50 feet closer to the subdivision off Route 112.  
Project Manager Marie Green, company spokesman John Carroll and transmission engineer Lee Blake met with neighborhood residents Sept. 2 to discuss the project and record their preference for where the project is located. Green said the Maine Public Utilities Commission ordered the company to meet with residents after concerns emerged during previous discussions about the proximity of lines to the school.
 “It was our intent to come out and find what everyone’s wishes are,” Green said. “The final decision is going to come down to majority rules.”
Carroll said CMP sent letters to 20 households in Sierra Woods, 16 in the Rotary Drive-Jenkins Road area, 11 in Chelsea Circle and four homes in other neighborhoods.  A letter also was sent to Saco officials requesting the city’s preference.
CMP received approval in April from the commission to upgrade transmission lines serving Saco, Old Orchard Beach, Scarborough and Biddeford. The project includes construction of new substations in Saco and Old Orchard Beach, as well as improvements to transmission lines that supply the region. The commission granted a Certificate of Public Convenience following a 33-month proceeding.
Green said CMP would prefer to leave the lines in the existing corridor. Transmission system improvements are needed to maintain reliability in the region, according to company officials. The new line will be built using a single-pole, double-circuit structures with one circuit built and energized at 115 kilovolts and the second built to operate at the same level but energized at 34,500 volts.  Poles could range in height from about 50 feet to more than 80 feet, depending on their location and the preference of neighbors.
Carroll said the project has been discussed in Saco for close to three years. Last year, Hillview Heights residents strongly objected to a plan to run transmission lines between their neighborhood and the Maine Turnpike.  That plan turned out not to be a viable option, he said.
Now, Sierra Woods residents say they are concerned shifting power lines 50 feet closer to their neighborhood could adversely affect their property values, cause health problems and harm wildlife in the woods surrounding their homes.
Nancy Phillips of Chantelle Way in Sierra Woods expressed frustration with the idea of relocating the lines.
“How is it that nobody cared it was that close to the middle school in the original discussion? If it was OK before, why now? Why at the end are we going to move it 50 feet this way?” she asked.
Several residents, including Chadwick-Granger, said they are concerned about possible side effects from electromagnetic fields, which Carroll said should not be a concern. He said the commission concluded upgraded lines have lower EMF levels because they are not as heavily loaded. Residents should not be concerned their health is in danger, he said.
After reviewing project diagrams with Blake, Tony Palleschi of Chantelle Way said he doesn’t like feeling he is forced to choose between two options he doesn’t support. The father of two young children said he would prefer to bury lines and avoid infighting among neighborhoods over where to place the project.
Sierra Woods resident Donald Sandos said lines should be farther from the neighborhood because children spend more time at home than at school. He also said shifting the lines would require cutting down trees and would “destroy” the environment around his neighborhood.
Several residents of nearby Rotary Drive also attended the meeting to say they want the lines moved away from the middle school. Residents of that neighborhood have discussed the project with CMP officials for much of the last three years.
As the nearly 40 residents who attended the meeting returned to their houses, Chadwick-Granger said she would organize another neighborhood meeting to talk about what residents will do next. She said residents will likely try to sit down with city officials to discuss their concerns.
“My biggest concern is I don’t want to hurt anybody. Yet I don’t want to see [the lines] here either,” she said. “It’s overwhelming.”