Alternative site proposed for new BWL substation
LANSING - Activists opposed to a new electrical substation on park land bordering the downtown area urged the Lansing City Council on Monday to postpone action so alternative sites can be considered.
Members of a coalition of preservation-minded groups said the substation proposed by the Lansing Board of Water & Light will destroy the historic character of Scott Sunken Garden and seriously harm the neighboring Cooley Gardens and Michigan Women's Historical Center & Hall of Fame while the new facility is being built.
They asked council members to create an advisory committee to make sure all options are considered and to review BWL's cost projections for a new substation.
"(We want them to) realize that it's time to slow down the process," Ryan Smith, president of the Cherry Hill Neighborhood Association, said during a news conference. "It's time to work together as a group and realize that replacing park land is not the solution ... We have to understand that money should not rule the day, and then we need to work together moving forward."
BWL wants to build a $27.9 million substation on part of the park at the southwest corner of South Washington Avenue and West Malcolm X Street. The park site is near a cluster of existing electrical distribution lines and is the only viable site for the substation, utility officials say.
The 98-year-old Scott House would have to be moved or razed to make way for the project, and the sunken garden would have to be moved.
BWL officials have committed up to $100,000 to move the Scott House to a new location if someone buys it from the city. They also have vowed to move the garden to the west and closely replicate it using some of the existing features. They also said they will create a $40,000 endowment to help maintain the garden.
Preservationists have strongly opposed the plan. Some of them met with BWL officials on Friday and asked them to consider a site on Diamond Reo Way, about a mile away.
BWL officials told council members on Monday that it would cost $86.4 million to $101.4 million to put the station on that site, depending on whether transmission lines are built overhead or underground. Even the cheaper option would result in a 3.8 percent rate increase for customers throughout the utility's coverage area, they said. Building the station at the Scott Park site would not result in a rate increase, they said.
If it used the alternative site, the utility would need more time to acquire easements, buy property and obtain permits, they said. It would also need to spend $60 million to keep the Eckert power plant operating for years beyond its scheduled closure in 2020, they said.
A group of preservationists addressed council members during their Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday. The group included members of Preservation Lansing and the Garden Club of Greater Lansing, which has maintained Scott Sunken Garden since the 1980s.
Editorial: Scott Park plan good enough
Sharon Burton, a member of the garden club, said the park will "lose its charm and most of the beautiful mature trees" if the substation is built there. If the garden is moved, as BWL is proposing, the existing plants may not survive being stored in a greenhouse during the two years of construction.
BWL officials released cost estimates and answered questions about the project during a public hearing Monday night. Dozens of people were staging to speak during the public hearing.
The council is not expected to vote on a special land use permit for the substation until next month, at the earliest.
Contact Ken Palmer at (517) 377-1032 or kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @KBPalm_lsj.