O & R Substation Meeting Rescheduled for January 28, 2009
Good news! On October 22, 2008, Orange & Rockland was scheduled to go another round with the Town Planning Board regarding their proposal to build an electrical substation on Oak Tree Road in Tappan. However, a few days before the meeting was to happen, O & R requested that it be postponed until January 28, 2009, so that the company could review their architectural and engineering options for the substation site. Tom Brizzolara, Director of Public Affairs for Orange & Rockland Utilities, then called “SaveTappan” committee organizer Don Sullivan and told him that O & R had “heard us” and would respond to community concerns.
The community outcry apparently has motivated O & R to rethink their plans for the electrical substation. As planned, the $8.8 million installation would be 43 feet high and 147 feet wide, and surrounded by a fenced enclosure measuring 134 feet by 159 feet. It would be built on part of a 14-acre parcel located on the New Jersey (south) side of Oak Tree Road, across the street from the Joseph Clarke Rail Trail Park.
This progress comes after months of work. At a meeting with O&R held on October 15, the committee made suggestions that were passed on to the Planning Board ahead of the official meeting on the 22nd. These included moving the substation further away from Oak Tree Road towards the south, and enclosing the substation inside a building. The committee members presented a photo of a similar substation on Bruckner Blvd. in the South Bronx, built by Con Edison, the parent company of Orange & Rockland. They asked O&R to consider building a similar structure.
Opponents of the substation would still like to see this project moved to a new location. The substation saga began last March, when unbeknownst to residents living on Oak Tree Road, Orange & Rockland utilities met with the Town of Orangetown Planning Board to discuss their plans to build an electric substation. Once neighbors learned about this meeting, they quickly mobilized 30 people to attend the May 28th Planning Board meeting. The “Save Tappan” Committee was organized. Then, for five long months, as numbers of people opposing this plan grew, key people did exhaustive research on health, safety and environmental hazards.
One positive outcome of the controversy has been that on September 22, the Town Board voted to make it mandatory that all Building Departments must give notice to neighboring residents when a project initially comes before them. The only flaw to this is that neighbors will NOT be notified about continuations. To stay informed, visit www.SaveTappan.com and join their e-mail list at Tasull13@aol.com. For two spectacular short movies showing substations exploding and a flameout, visit www.cccable.com.