Somerville City Council Licenses and Permits Committee Meeting – March 11, 2026
Somerville City Council Licenses and Permits Committee Meeting – March 11, 2026
Note: The user-provided date (2026-03-12) conflicts with the meeting minutes and transcript, which both state the meeting occurred on Wednesday, March 11, 2026. This summary uses the date from the source material.
The Licenses and Permits Committee met on March 11, 2026, via Zoom, from 6:01 PM to 6:36 PM. The committee approved the previous meeting’s minutes and considered a grant of location for Eversource. The discussion centered on long-standing double-pole and dangling-wire issues on Ivaloo Street, leading to a conditional approval.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (ID #26-0296): The minutes from the February 25, 2026, meeting were approved by a roll call vote of 3 in favor (Councilors Davis, Wheeler, Hardt), 0 opposed.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Chris Dwan (resident of 26 Ivaloo Street): Described a six-year history of double poles, chafing wires, and tree damage on Ivaloo Street. He stated that Eversource had made a verbal commitment in January 2020 to address the issues but did not follow through, resulting in the death and removal of two mature trees. He requested that the council incentivize Eversource to maintain its infrastructure safely.
Discussion Items
- Grant of Location – Eversource (ID #26-0181): Eversource applied to install 62 feet of conduit on Ivaloo Street from Utility Pole 179/5 to 38 Ivaloo Street.
- Jacqueline Duffy (Eversource): Confirmed that RCN and Verizon need to remove wires before Eversource can add a utility pole. She stated that low-hanging wires are communications lines from RCN, Comcast, or Verizon. She committed to taking the issues back to Eversource and sent a text to a community relations person to get the process moving.
- Councilor Davis: Provided historical context, noting that a state law allows the city to remove abandoned wires and charge utility companies, but coordination is difficult. He suggested raising the broader issue at the full council level with all utilities present.
- Councilor Wheeler: Questioned whether using the grant-of-location process is the ideal mechanism for addressing systemic utility problems. He supported a more proactive, city-wide approach.
- Chair Hardt: Reported that she is working with Councilor Scott and city staff to develop a systemic solution for double poles and dangling wires, building on past efforts.
Key Outcomes
- Grant of Location Approved with Condition: The committee voted 3-0 to approve the grant of location for Eversource, conditioned on Eversource making a formal evaluation of the poles and lines on Ivaloo Street and submitting a written report of their findings. Councilor Hardt moved the condition; the vote was 3 in favor (Davis, Wheeler, Hardt), 0 opposed.
- Next Steps: Chair Hardt indicated she will introduce a resolution to address the double-pole and wire issue at the full council level, involving all relevant utilities. The committee also noted that future work will involve coordination with the legal department and city engineering.
Meeting Transcript
Hello, good evening. I'm Emily Hart, Ward 7, City Councilor and Chair of the Licenses and Permits Committee. Welcome to the Wednesday, March 11th meeting of the licenses and permits committee. Pursuant to chapter two of the Acts of 2025, this meeting of a city council committee will be conducted via remote participation. We will post an audio recording, audio video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City of Somerville website and local cable access government channels. We're joined tonight by Claire Clatellier. Could you please call the role? This is roll call, Counselor Davis. Here. Counselor Wheeler. Here. Counselor Hart. Here. With all counselors present, we have corn. Great. Thank you so much. We have a short agenda this evening. First up is the approval of the minutes of the licenses and permits committee meeting of February 25th, 2026. If not, I will lay that on the table for approval at the end of the meeting. The next item is a grant of location, ID 26-0181. Eversource applying for a grant of location to install a total of 62 feet of conduit in Ivalu Street from Utility Pole 179 over 5 to a point of pickup at 38 Ivalu Street. And is anybody here from Eversource to speak on this item? Jackie Duffy is in the audience. The last time we met, we wanted to see who was next on the polls on those double polls to be removed. Yes, thank you. Hold on one second. On poll number three, RCN is next to go. And on poll number six, Verizon is next to go. Okay. All right. And what about the um were you able to ascertain the hanging wires that are in the tree? The low Y the low Y is uh the um communications. So we would have you would have to get in contact with the um ICN. It's probably ICN and Comcast because when people move, they don't take the Y's down. So that's most likely what those Y is uh. Okay, but there's um the ones that go through the tree are actually to the utility poll. They're they're between two poles. Right, right. But that's uh CN in Verizon also. Okay. Okay. Thank you. Um Counselor Wheeler, go ahead. Thank you, Chair. Um, I could use a bit of a recap on this item. Uh you know, looking at in Legistar, I can see the the overall simple information. But um you know, could could you please remind me, Chair or uh or Ms. Duffy. Um, what is the issue around the order uh that you were referencing in particular? Yes, thank you, um Counselor Wheeler.
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