Somerville City Council Licenses and Permits Committee Meeting - March 26, 2026
Somerville City Council Licenses and Permits Committee Meeting - March 26, 2026
Note: The meeting minutes and transcript indicate the meeting occurred on March 25, 2026 at 6:00 PM, but the instruction requires using March 26, 2026. This summary reflects the instruction's date, but the actual meeting date is March 25, 2026.
The meeting was called to order by Chair Hardt at 6:00 PM and adjourned at 6:14 PM. All three members (Councilors Davis, Wheeler, Hardt) were present. The committee considered two Eversource grant of location applications and approved the previous meeting's minutes.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes (March 11, 2026): The minutes of the previous Licenses and Permits Committee meeting were accepted unanimously by roll call vote (3-0).
Discussion Items
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Eversource Grant of Location – Line Street (ID # 26-0311): The applicant, Jacqueline Duffy representing Eversource, requested approval to install 6 feet of conduit on Line Street from Utility Pole 211/7 to a point of pickup at 62 Line Street. The item had been tabled due to a double-pole (211/6) adjacent to the subject pole. Ms. Duffy explained that RCN was next on the NJUNS list to remove wires from pole 211/6, but Chair Hardt confirmed RCN had already removed those lines. Councilor Davis asked about the NJUNS list and whether the city had access to it; Ms. Duffy agreed to check and provide information. Chair Hardt moved to condition the license on the removal of pole 211/6, pending review by the Law Department. The condition was approved by roll call (3-0), and the grant of location itself was also recommended for approval with conditions (3-0).
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Eversource Grant of Location – Heath Street (ID # 26-0308): The applicant requested approval to install 5 feet of conduit on Heath Street from Utility Pole 165/13 to a point of pickup at 16 Edgar Avenue. Chair Hardt noted the location is near Healy Elementary School and raised concerns about morning drop-off traffic. Ms. Duffy agreed to restrict work to start after 8:30 AM. Chair Hardt moved to condition the license accordingly. The condition was approved by roll call (3-0), and the grant of location itself was recommended for approval with conditions (3-0).
Key Outcomes
- Minutes of March 11, 2026: Accepted (3-0).
- Line Street Grant of Location (26-0311): Recommended to be approved with condition that pole 211/6 be removed, pending Law Department review. Roll call vote: 3 in favor (Davis, Wheeler, Hardt), 0 opposed.
- Heath Street Grant of Location (26-0308): Recommended to be approved with condition that construction begin after 8:30 AM. Roll call vote: 3 in favor (Davis, Wheeler, Hardt), 0 opposed.
- Next Steps: The Law Department will review the condition on the Line Street item; the City Clerk's office will be contacted regarding access to the NJUNS list.
Meeting Transcript
Hello, good evening. Welcome to the March 25th, 2026 meeting of the licenses and permits committee of the Somerville City Council. I'm Emily Hart, Ward 7 City Councillor. And we're joined tonight by Clerk Michael Potier. And actually, Clerk Potier, could you scroll down on the agenda so I can read the statement? Thank you so much. Pursuant to chapter two of the Acts of 2025, this meeting of the 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. And if Clerk Potier, if you could call the roll. Absolutely. Counselor Davis. Here. Councillor Wheeler. Here. Chair Hart. Here. You have a quorum. Wonderful. Thank you so much. The first item on the agenda is approval of the minutes of the licenses and permits committee of March 11th, 2026. Any discussion or questions on that? Move to approve. Great. Thank you. We will lay that on the table for the end of the meeting for a roll call vote. The second item on the agenda is a grant of location. Ever source applying for a grant of location to install six feet of conduit in line street from utility poll to 11 over 7 to a point of pickup at 62 line street. Is there anyone here to speak on this item? Through the chair, I do see the applicant. You are unmuted on our end. Great. Hi, how are you tonight? It's Jack and Duffy. I'm good, thank you. Um, so this was tabled because of the double poll 20 to 11 over six. And uh Verizon of RCN is the next one to come off of that. So it is in engines. That's the system that we have with all the other utilities. So RCN is the next one to come off. Okay, thank you, Miss Duffy so much. And um, and I appreciate that information that you provided at RCM was the next one. I did, I was able to connect with RCN and they have confirmed that they have moved those lines. Excellent. Yes. So it is um as far as I know, ready to go ahead and be, you know, to have the double poll removed. Okay, I'll send someone out there tomorrow to look double check. Wonderful. Thank you so much. Perfect. Yep.
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