Utility reviews attorney's Egypt Lake proposal
The residents continue their dispute over power poles installed by the Tampa Electric Co.
By BILL VARIAN
Published June 14, 2005
TAMPA - An attorney for residents fighting for the removal of giant power poles installed outside their Egypt Lake homes promised a watershed moment in their lawsuit against Tampa Electric Co. Monday.
But a spokesman for the utility said the settlement offer from attorney Paul Antinori appears at first blush to be more of the same old thing.
Antinori's proposal would remove the giant poles from residential Kirby and Sitka streets near Egypt Lake, as well as the thick transmission lines they carry, and reroute them along the Waters Avenue commercial district. He said the company could even recycle most of the poles as part of the relocation, cutting them off at their bases and transplanting them on Waters.
Antinori, a former state attorney who is handling the case free of charge, said the metal poles, some standing as tall as 125 feet, have "pierced the heart of the neighborhood." For about $2-million to $3-million, according to an estimate from a former Tampa Electric employee Antinori has enlisted as an expert, the community can be restored, he said.
"This is an amicable way out and we hope to get a favorable response from Tampa Electric," Antinori said during a news conference in downtown Tampa Monday.
Antinori was joined by Hillsborough Commissioner Kathy Castor, who represents the Egypt Lake area and has been a champion of the neighborhood's cause. She described the proposal as one that is small in scope, yet bold.
"This is an offer I think TECO should not refuse," Castor said, referring to the parent company of Tampa Electric.
Tampa Electric installed the poles in the Egypt Lake area without public notice in the summer of 2003. Residents there have been protesting since, with differing factions filing three separate lawsuits. Commissioners also changed county codes to provide closer oversight of utility poles erected in residential areas.
Tampa Electric officials repeatedly have said that they looked at several options before installing the transmission lines through the Egypt Lake area. Waters Avenue was among them, and the company has said that placing the poles on Waters did not provide the right mix of affordability and reliability.
The Antinori proposal would run the transmission lines from the Juneau substation east of Egypt Lake north to Waters Avenue and string them about a mile west to Himes Avenue, where the lines would rejoin the existing loop. It calls for placing two transmission circuits on a single line of poles.
Antinori said the same dual-circuit system is used by Tampa Electric on parts of Sheldon Road and Spruce Street. That, he said, debunks the utility's concerns about reliability. The utility has expressed concern about running too much power along a single line, fearing one mishap could knock out electricity to a wide area.
"Now with the start of storm season, I think people can appreciate that," said Tampa Electric spokesman Ross Bannister.
Nevertheless, he said engineers with the utility have been reviewing the settlement offer, which he said might be described by some people as little more than a publicity stunt.
"We'll certainly look at it in good faith," Bannister said. "But the initial assessment is that this is the same old thing."
--Bill Varian can be reached at 813 226-3387 or varian@sptimes.com