The Idaho Statesman weighs in:
"Parma protests may prompt change in Idaho Power plans - The city's mayor doesn't want transmission lines to go through private land." (also read the comments at the end of the article) http://www.idahostatesman.com/newsupdates/story/666959.html
From the article:
Parma Mayor Margie Watson, who said she learned about the proposed 500,000 volt Boardman to Hemingway Transmission Line by accident in December, was surprised again Wednesday night when an Idaho Power representative presented a new map at a Canyon County byway meeting. The map, dated Feb. 11, shows the originally proposed route north of Parma as one of three alternatives. Idaho Power representative Mike Churella said the alternatives were developed in response to Parma's concerns.
That riled Watson, who said she hadn't been notified of the changes, and that she "didn't ask for any of those alternatives." She said it bothers her that one option, which bypasses Parma, passes through the edge of Greenleaf's impact area. Watson wants the proposed powerline - now routed more than 80 percent through private property - to go through public land.
. . . But nothing has been finalized, Churella stressed. Public input will help determine the final route, he said.
Such chutzpah coming from Idaho Power officials is something those of us in Malheur County have come to expect. We've made public input after public input and, as Mayor Watson has discovered, find that Idaho Power's so-called alternatives "developed in response" to the public's concerns still manage to go through mostly private property.
There will be more posts about IPCo's so-called alternative routes. Don't confuse these with SIP's alternative routes. Stay tuned.
(Sorry I've been absent lately, I've been taking a long-planned road trip with my husband to visit my six sisters and my mom in California and Utah.)
