City won't bury Seventh Street power lines

Whitefish City Council won’t explore the option of burying power lines on West Seventh Street during reconstruction of the road.

The city’s engineering firm on the project, Robert Peccia & Associates, estimated the cost to bury the utilities at $1.3 million. Power lines on the road are transmission lines, which carry a higher load of power, and therefore are more costly to relocate underground.

Moving the lines was expected to require extended work, including the installation of four electrical vaults about the size of a small Volkswagen. Flathead Electric Co-op estimated about 15 services poles would still be needed.

Moving utilities underground would have delayed the construction project by one year. The main construction of the road is set for 2016.

Councilor John Anderson was quick to dismiss the idea of placing the utilities underground.

“West Seventh Street has been hammered by construction on the highway,” he said. “To subject them to another year of construction is a waste.”

Two years ago then-councilor Bill Kahle pushed for the city to bury overhead power lines along East Second Street when the roadway was reconstructed. He argued that the city should bury lines because it requires new subdivisions to do so.

Council at the time split on the decision with Mayor John Muhlfeld breaking the vote in favor of burying the lines.

Anderson, who voted against burying the lines on Second Street, lambasted that previous decision.

“That was a tragic mistake,” he said. “There was zero benefit. Almost the same number of power poles remained. Plus, we got to look at all the power vaults along the street.”

The cost for relocating the utilities underground on Second Street was $269,682.