HomeMy WebLinkAbout750631.tiff Rt. 1, Box 221 B3
Longmont, Colorado 80501
September;l2, 1975
The Honorable Glenn Billings
Weld County Commissioner
1516 Hospital Road
Greeley, Colorado
Dear Mr. Billings:
First of all, on behalf of the members of the Platte River Protection
Association I would like to thank you and the other members of the
Weld - Larimer COG for delaying the decision on the routing of the
Loveland - Longmont PRPA Transmission line. We are confident that
when all the facts are known, a more suitable route can be worked out.
I would like to take this opportunity to make a few comments regarding
the material presented at the COG and also to express my views and
the views of others along the route more specifically than might have
been previously indicated. For clarity purposes, I will list these
as follows:
1. The slide presentation given by Mr. Shack was a highl3 dis-
torted comparison of the two routes. Those of the I-25 route
were taken by high quality photographic methods with extreme
care given at highlighting all obstacles along the route.
Obstacles along the proposed preferred route were totally avoid-
ed and the photographic quality of these slides was poor.
2. The cost imcrease given in their report for the C & S Railroad
route (System A-2) is an absolute worst case analysis with very
little basis for substantiating the assumptions they had used.
3. During Ay presentation to COG, I did not emphasis the point
strong enough regarding the double poles located on the Tri-
State line at the south end. These were quickly installed just
a few weeks before the April 3rd PRPA public hearing in Berthoud
and several weeks after the people along the route heard about
the proposed line. In fact, it was during the later part of
February and during the month of March that Mr. Hamilton was
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assuring our association that the preferred route was
strickly a proposal. Also, during our visits to the various
city councils, the same "proposal" theme was emphasised.
Nevertheless, someone gave the ok for the double pole in-
stallation, thus defining the south end termination point.
This is a classic example of the abuse of power. Even in
the lowest form of political order this would be classified
as a very unethical practice. We look upon the installation
of the poles as the start of construction of the Loveland -
Longmont line prior to any public hearing and prior to the
time when PRPA became a public entity. Also, it is my under-
standing that these poles were installed before any notice
was given to Weld County.
4. It was not made clear at the COG hearing that the existing
Public Service transmission line along the C & S Railroad
will become unnecessary after the installation of the new
proposed line. Public Service plans to remove this line
when the new line is completed.
5 The objection to the Colorado and Southern route on the basis
of a railroad signal communication problem seems a bit unfound-
ed. It is known that high voltage transmission lines follow
railroads for thousands of miles in this country. If the power
line can be adjacent to telephone lines then why can't the
power lines be adjacent to railroad signal lines? It could be
that the C & S Railroad is using antiquated signal equipment.
6. The advantages previously mentioned regarding the use of the
C & S route near Longmont could also apply along the entire
route to Loveland.
7. Alledged communication problems on the C & S Railroad do not
apply to the Great Western Railroad because of a distinct
absense of such lines. Also, the Great Western Railroad is
only used during a few months of the year.
8. Even though the Platte River Power Authority has given the
image of having studied various alternates, it is clear that
their planned proposed route has remained virtually unchanged
for over four years and they seem to regard it as the one and
only one route.
9. In our opinion, the future power grid in northeastern Colorado
has been known by the power utility groups for several years,
but they only reveal what they want to reveal when it is
necessary to reveal. They build their lines in segments
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which define end points which in turn defines future line
segments. Once the end points of a short line segment are
defined, alternate routes fall in a very narrow band. As
an example, the Ault - Longmont route was virtually fixed
by construction of the short Fort Collins to Loveland seg-
ment. This is another example of their divide and conquer
tactics.
10. The people at the south end are concerned about the connection
in our front yards of the double circuit high voltage trans-
mission line to be constructed in the near future from
Fort St. Frain and the single circuit transmission line to
be constructed from Loveland. It is difficult for us to
understand how Longmont can use all this power.
We are extremely pleased that you are taking an interest in our problem.
We believe that you and your committee will do all that you can to
arrive at the best possible conclusion regarding the routing of the line.
We would like to give you any assistance we can.
Very truly yours,
Ernest P. Kollar
Alternate Route Committee Chairman
Platte River Protection Association
cc. Floyd Hale
Gary Fortner
Victor daoobucci
Roy Moser
Garth Rogers
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