Above: A branch dangles over wires on Main Street (contributed photo)
Earlier this week, several residents expressed concern about a large branch partially resting on utility wires along Main Street, and they asked who was responsible for removing the branch. Thanks to one proactive resident who called the president of National Grid to report the issue, we now know a bit more.
Reader Jim said he called National Grid’s main number and used their phone system’s spell-by-name feature to reach Marcy Reed, president of National Grid in Massachusetts. “I left a polite message on her voice mail advising her of the unresponsiveness of National Grid as shown on this blog, and asked her to view the blog and get this dangerous situation resolved,” he wrote in a comment on Wednesday.
Not only did Reed call him back, but she asked National Grid’s Social Media Manager Emily Johnson to contact me. In an email, Johnson said National Grid is responsible for clearing branches that threaten electrical wires, but she pointed out that’s not the case on Main Street. “The trees shown in the picture included in this blog post are impacting telephone and cable TV infrastructure and must be handled accordingly by those providing those types of services to Southborough.”
That would mean it’s up to Verizon to clear the branches.
DPW Superintendent Karen Galligan said the town cannot clear branches on electrical wires, and does not have a bucket to reach branches like the one on Main Street that threaten telephone and cable lines. She suggests residents contact the utilities directly. Because it’s a public safety concern, Galligan said residents can also report the issue to the Southborough Police Department.
For those of you who want to call this in, the main number for Verizon is 1-800-VERIZON (1-800-837-4966). Report it to Southborough police by calling 508 485-2147.
In related news, Galligan said a tree service will be in town next week to clear broken branches that are dangling over town roads after October’s snow storm.
Update 2:44 pm: Reports are coming in that the branches on Main Street were removed by a work crew not long ago. I don’t know if it was Verizon or someone else. If anyone has info, please share it in the comments.
I have called this into Verizon, and put in a report.
The ticket number assigned to this is, MAAV02CJWH. The ETR given is for Monday. I also left a message at the corporate office describing the situation.
Not sure why this has not been done before. Why would the DPW, the police, or whoever not put in reports to National Grid or Verizon when it knows of this or similar situations in town that are risks for potential outages? Just doesn’t seem right.
My apologies if it has been done, and they have not responded in two months time. Then there are other issues to be addressed.
Branches in the picture are gone now.
Thank you Verizon, for responding so quickly. Once you were made aware of the situation, I understand you responded within a hour of being contacted, much sooner than the original Monday ETR that was given,
I mentioned this blog, and gave it’s address to each person, and VM I was in touch with at Verizon.
Thank you Susan for continuing to be a change agent, by keeping the community informed!
It was mentioned that there are others branches around town, that pose a risk. Can the DPW, BoS, or an agreed upon public department or town official, please report other situations to appropriate utilities so that situations can be resolved before more problems arise.
Waiting for someone else to do it, is not responsible.
Again, thank you.
Just wanted to let you all know that Marcy Reed received a wonderful Award..”Woman of the Year” this week.
This must have been for the Great Job she and National Grid have done this last year in Massachusetts! (Yes, I am sarcastic….)
Glad she emailed and/or called you back that must have changed after so many towns have complained about National Grid.
You, Susan, are doing a great service for a beautiful town by the way.
So persistence with Verizon paid off. After calling about once every other week and asking about the ‘construction’ department ticket that had been assigned, Verizon came today and moved their lines to the pole National Grid sunk after the October snow storm, and to which Charter had already moved its lines, leaving only the Verizon lines on the rotten-at-the-base utility pole. Verizon came today, moved their wires, took away the old pole and the 6 foot chunk that National Grid had lopped off the top and left there. Thanks, Verizon — it took a while, but nice job.