BEVERLY — The City Council last night expressed mounting frustration with National Grid and other utilities for digging up newly paved streets and failing to respond to complaints about burned-out street lights and low-hanging wires.
Ward 5 City Councilor Don Martin, who said the complaints have been going on for years, voted against two routine requests for National Grid to move telephone poles, saying it's the only way to get the company's attention.
"I'm just tired of saying 'yes, yes, yes' and not getting anywhere with these companies," he said.
Martin was outvoted, 8-1, but other councilors agreed they need to put the pressure on the utilities, and National Grid in particular, to respond to the city's needs. They said a lack of coordination has led to National Grid digging up streets to make repairs soon after the city has paved them.
"If there's one thing worse than not paving someone's street it's paving that street and ripping it up four months later," Ward 3 Councilor Jim Latter said.
Ward 2 Councilor Wes Slate said one of his constituents has made repeated requests for National Grid to remove wires that are "literally hanging in front of this individual's door."
"We can't seem to get traction on this," Slate said to a National Grid representative who was at the meeting. "Take a message back that Beverly seems to be having more problems than we've had in the past."
Slate said councilors will schedule a meeting with National Grid officials and the city's engineer and electrician to discuss the problems.
Also last night, Montserrat College of Art President Stephen Immerman told councilors the downtown college has 390 undergraduate students this year, up from 339 two years ago.
Immerman said the college spent $1.5 million with Beverly businesses last year and an additional $509,000 at North Shore businesses beyond Beverly.
"We have a policy to buy Beverly first," he said.
Councilors praised the college for its impact on the city.
"The kids are a joy to have downtown," said Councilor-at-large Paul Guanci, who owns Super Sub on Cabot Street. "It's amazing what the college has brought to the downtown, because I can remember what it was like before you were here."
Staff writer Paul Leighton can be reached at 978-338-2675 or by e-mail at pleighton@salemnews.com.
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