The Village of Great Neck Board of Trustees are facing a new construction trend of underground electrical cables, and said they are hoping to make the process easier for homeowners to take advantage of this new method.
At the village board meeting on Tuesday, trustees approved four new homes that included underground electrical cables as opposed to traditional power lines.
Discussions began on creating a template for these types of requests to help streamline the process, and remove unnecessary headaches and costs for homeowners.
Currently, the board is deciding on a case by case basis with caution due to a number of safety concerns.
The current process has home owners responsible for constructing and maintaining their power lines, even if underground.
Village Department of Public Works Superintendent Louis Massaro said this raises the issue of informing the village of the locations of these new lines.
“Who’s going to mark out where these things are,” Massaro said. “Who’s responsible to mark out their infrastructure?”
Residents are to contact Dig Safely New York at 811 to make the location of these lines known, and the town is to confirm this prior to permitting work.
Despite this, Massaro said he was concerned that when residents open up the streets to add new power lines, the town might not be properly informed on the process and new locations of power lines, which could create unsafe working conditions for later projects.
Village of Great Neck Mayor Pedram Bral said he was also concerned with houses that require power lines to extend across the street, not wanting to ruin the town’s roads and create unsafe working conditions.
“The problem comes when the pole is on the opposite side, and then you have to dig under,” Bral said. “But if the pole is on the same side, and you don’t have to cross the street you’re just going underneath, that should not really be an issue.”
The board members said they understand this is a new trend in housing, and will continue to grow as new houses are built and old houses convert to this new method.
Also at the meeting, trustees approved a public hearing for Bill 2A of 2015, which would amend local law to substitute the Great Neck Village Board of Trustees for the Board of Zoning Appeals as the authorizing body for rulings on buildings exclusively for religious purposes, for their next meeting on Dec. 1.
Bral said the bill is being introduced to make the process easier and less expensive, as has been done for restaurants and stores in the past.
Village Clerk-Treasurer Joe Gill explained that “it’s cheaper to come to the Board of Trustees than it is to the Board of Zoning Appeals.”
