2015.02.09 Council Agenda Item 08
Summary
Order to authorize the Town Manager to execute all necessary documentation which will give the Town’s consent to the Falmouth Land Trust’s conveyance to Unitil of the Additional Pipeline Easement, and to also consent to joining Unitil, the Falmouth Land Trust, and the Maine Attorney General, in an action to obtain judicial approval of the Additional Pipeline Easement.
A public comment period will be included with this item (3 minutes).
ACTION: Council action is anticipated.
Description
In 2014, as part of the reconstruction of their bridge over the Piscataqua River, the MTA required that Unitil relocate a portion of its existing pipeline on or under property owned by the Maine Turnpike Authority (MTA) and the Falmouth Land Trust. A short segment of the relocated pipeline on Land Trust property was proposed to lie in an area outside of Unitil’s existing pipeline easements, and in an area subject to a conservation easement held by the Town that prohibits certain site alterations on the property. Since the entire portion of this relocated segment of pipeline was to be installed using underground horizontal directional drilling methods, and since the surface of the ground would not be altered beyond clearing temporary staging areas necessary to conduct the proposed pipeline work, it was determined that the project did not “materially detract” from the conservation values of the conservation easement under Title 33 M.R.S. Section 477-A(2)(B). In May, 2014, the Town Council authorized the Town Manager to execute the Easement and Relocation Agreement.
During the relocation work, the soils were found to be too unstable to safely complete the project as originally designed. Accordingly, Unitil is now proposing to relocate and extend the pipeline to a different location outside of the formerly approved easement areas. The new proposed pipeline segment will be located within the project’s disturbed temporary work area, however, because the relocated pipeline will be installed by excavating a trench, as opposed to horizontal directional drilling, an additional pipeline easement is required.
Unitil has provided the attached cover letter and exhibits detailing the proposed project and explaining the approval process for the changes to the Easement.
