Life here in Carson City. Well here it is another beautiful day in the capital of the great State of Nevada. What's that I hear? Sierra Pacific Power Co. wants to come in and destroy a neighborhood with a power station. Yes, after losing an uphill battle to put a station at approximately the 1300 block of Arrowhead Drive, the power company wants to come into a single family, one-acre neighborhood and put in this station and uproot the entire neighborhood.
The power company does not care about the current way of life that is enjoyed here, the fact that there is a school bus stop on this corner, every residence is on private wells and septic system, that there will be two 52- foot tall poles, the building and other parts are 18 to 22 feet tall, or the impact that the neighbors will have to look at this every day of their lives for the rest of their lives.
The response from the power company is that if they do not build this here, today, come the summer of the year 2000 they will brown out Carson City and according to Bob Edwards of the power company, they have the right of eminent domain, and will do this no matter what! Excuse me, is this not a threat and probably just short of an act of terrorism? (The means and ability to carry out the threat against the city and people of Carson City). I think so! They will move the bus stop, which will require the children to cross a major unincorporated street with no crosswalks or sidewalks, they will buy out the residences directly next to and across from the station, and I'm sorry about the rest of the people in the area. They are also willing to place beautiful landscaping with eight- to 10-foot trees in an attempt to hide the 52-foot poles and 18- to 20-foot structures. I don't understand how a 10-foot tree will hide a 20-foot anything, either today or in the future.
The neighborhood where the station is proposed is not the problem, the problem comes from the growth, yet the power company is not willing to make any attempt to place this station where the growth is. What happened to planning for growth? They state that they cannot, the city won't let them, we cannot move the lines. Excuse me, why can't you move the lines?
The city was not born with them, they had to be installed at some point. Every other city and power company has the ability to move power lines, why are you not capable of doing this? Why have you not figured this out? Is it that you have a bad case of tunnel vision for this proposed site? I think so. The neighbors have had three meetings with you and have given you numerous different alternatives, all of which you have said, No! Can't do that, too far south, and any number of other reasons. Never a solution that is compatible for all. Does this sound like what happened with the power line north of Reno? Yes!
The Constitution of the United States and the Bill of Rights call for people to be secure in their residences and just compensation for when these things happen. Has Sierra Pacific Power Co. not heard of these documents? I think not.
Well, Mr. Sierra Pacific Power Co., my house and residence have been here since 1963. We are not causing the problem. If we were, it would have shown up long before this. I do not like and/or appreciate your solution. I am going to, along with most of my neighbors, fight you every step of the way. I know you have bigshot lawyers and lots of money to pursue this, but I have the fact that what I am doing is right, and what you are attempting to do is wrong.
JOHN LUBICH
Carson City
