The Committee should discuss the concerns which residents shared on March 17, 2022 about the FPL schedule for removal of utility poles.

“Currently, Atlantic Broadband, now known as Breezeline, has wires (not energized) in the new conduits under the Sunset 4 bridge.  Breezeline needs a power supply permit (permit no. ELC2109613) to energize their new system which is currently pending with the Building department even after numerous revisions to comply with the City’s comments to their permit application.  Once the permit is approved, Breezeline can energize the new underground system, convert homes, and begin removing lines from the poles. The City needs to work the Building department to help resolve any pending issues with the permit.

As to AT&T, the existing overhead service includes both fiber and copper wires.  The new underground system will be fiber only.  AT&T has already installed fiber within the new underground conduits within Islands 3 and 4 that are energized.  However, AT&T has not yet activated and connected the conduits under the Island 4 bridge to their main infrastructure on the mainland.  In order to activate the new under-bridge conduits, AT&T needs to obtain a permit to connect the new conduits to their underground system on the mainland.  AT&T has not yet applied for those permits although I have been told that they are working on it.  Once permitted and connected, AT&T would run fiber only in those new conduits under the Island 4 bridge and then AT&T can deactivate the overhead wires at the bridge. The City needs to push AT&T on getting their under-bridge work done.

As to both Breezeline and AT&T, the City needs to push those homeowners who are still connected to the existing poles with overhead wires from the poles to the homes (this is about 20 +/- older homes within Islands 3 and 4).  The City also needs to fix any conflicts within Islands 3 and 4 where conduits have been damaged and accordingly preventing homes from being connected to the new underground system.

As to FPL, it has not yet installed its conduits under the Island 4 bridge via lateral boring, which should have been done years ago.  FPL has not been aggressive in getting this work done, and there has been turnover or shifting of responsible personnel resulting in delays in getting permits with the City.  The City must communicate with FPL and help them resolve these permitting issues and be vigilant in doing so.  Without the City staying on top of this aggressively, the "can keeps getting kicked down the road" repeatedly and nothing gets done.  In addition, whatever work was previously installed gets damaged because of delays without anyone taking responsibility for fixing the damage.  Again, this is the City’s overall responsibility.  

On a separate note about FPL, there are four locations which have conflicts or damage with the new underground conduit system and these are not yet fixed.  These four conflicts prevent FPL from finishing running power lines within the underground conduits and keep FPL from energizing its overall system.  These new conduits have been in the ground for years and the delays in finishing up a few conflicts result in more damage over time which results in more delays.  The City needs to push FPL to fix all the conflicts directly, and pay them separately, rather than going back and forth with the old contractors who did the undergrounding work. “