Town Halts LIPA Power Pole Installations

The Town of Islip has issued a stop-work order to halt LIPA from installing power poles in the vicinity of Pease Lane in West Islip, a Town spokesperson said Thursday. 

The poles are part of a plan to replace outdated power cables that run across the bottom of the Great South Bay that help power , said Kevin Bonner, the Town's director of public information.

Several poles have already been erected on Beach Drive, adjacent to However, Bonner said LIPA hadn't filled out the required right-of-work permits needed to install telephone poles. 

And when installation crossed Montauk Highway onto Pease Lane, residents began complaining about the structures that stand as tall as 60 feet.  

"This past Friday, we began to receive calls from West Islip residents," Bonner said. "On Monday, a stop-work order was issued to LIPA and a letter was sent over on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, the Town again received calls from residents saying that more poles were being installed.  Bonner said that Supervisor Phil Nolan visited the site to halt the day's work. 

"These poles are an absolute eyesore in the community," Nolan said. "We have put a stop to this, and we are going to do everything in our power to force LIPA to consider alternatives ways to complete this project."

LIPA responded to the Town of Islip's claims by releasing a statement saying that "while LIPA has the statutory authority to proceed without permits, we have been engaged with the town since the beginning of this project and LIPA was never advised that we would need to obtain permits."

LIPA's statement also said, "this project was undertaken to benefit customers by maximizing the strength and reliability of the LIPA system.  However to address the concerns of the community, we will go back and look at possible alternatives which may ultimately impact reliability in the area.”

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