In their own front yard
By Rae KrugerArticle Photos
MARSHALL - The red flag is small but it marks what Myk and Shirley Greenfield believe will have a huge negative impact on their lives.
The Greenfields live near the corner of Lyon County Road 7 and 250th Street, a mile or two away from the Minnesota Highway 23 bypass near Marshall.
The flag is about 78 feet from their house and it marks the path of a power line that will pass over their driveway and front yard on its way to a Marshall Municipal Utilities substation near Highway 23 and County Road 7. The state selected late last month a path for the Xcel power line and poles that will travel from Lake Yankton near Balaton to the MMU substation near County Road 7.
The Xcel power line will pass over the driveway and lawn where Evan, their 4-year-old son, plays.
"It's very scary," Shirley said. "We've got health concerns. We have a 4-year old, he plays outside. We are really concerned about that."
"There is the potential for this to have ill health effects," neighbor Charles Kaufman said.
There is an alternative, and Kaufman and others have submitted that alternative to the state.
Kaufman and the Greenfield's backyards connect at corners. The power lines will be across the road from Kaufman along County Road 7 and he doesn't live near the line that will cross Greenfield's property. Still, he and his wife Betty and other County Road 7 residents worry about Evan Greenfield and don't like how close the power line will be to the Greenfield home and yard, Kaufman said.
Based on maps from the state, Myk Greenfield said the power lines will be at their lowest point, about 20 to 25 feet, when they pass over his front yard.
Myk said he was told by Xcel and state officials from the Public Utilities Commission and Department of Commerce, no "house would be within 100 feet of a power line.
"Of course, 78 feet is less than 100 feet," Myk Greenfield said.
The easement, a formal agreement which allows a power company to use land to work on a pole or line, is only 33 feet from their front door, Myk Greenfield said.
"They could park a truck in my front yard and I'd have nothing to say about it," Myk Greenfield said.
Concerns about Evan and other potential negatives from a power line 78 feet from the Greenfield house have brought at least 12 neighbors together to sign a letter to the Minnesota Public Utilities which outlines an alternative route.
The state needs to change the route soon, the Greenfields and Kaufman said, because construction on the power line is set to start this fall.
Denny Wild of Marshall and Joe Cauwels of Milroy own property near the Greenfields. They are willing to allow Xcel to put power poles and lines across their property, so the Greenfield home can be avoided, Kaufman said.
"I'd be OK with that," Wild said. "There are other better places to go rather than going over someone's house, right across their front yard."
Lyon County Planning and Zoning Administrator John Biren said he doubts the state will change the plan now.
"I don't know that they will get a lot of support from the PUC or Department of Commerce," Biren said. "I don't know if I necessarily agree with that. (lack of state support)."
The state makes the decision on the power line project, not the county, Biren said.
At least one Xcel official said at a public meeting on the power line project the lines and the poles could go anywhere, Biren said.
The Greenfields and their neighbors can "sure try" to get a different route, Biren said.
The route was originally planned to run behind the Klein Addition which is north to northwest of the Greenfield's house. The power lines and poles would have been a few hundred feet from homes in the Klein Addition.
Residents of the Klein Addition opposed the original route and presented some alternatives to the state.
The Greenfields said they don't want the route to go behind the Klein Addition, they just want it moved from their front yard.
"We're not saying go put it by the Klein Addition," Shirley Greenfield said.
The Greenfields also don't want the power line moved across the road, because then it would be too close to another neighbor.
The best plan is to use the offer from Wild and Cauwels, they said.
Wild said Xcel could follow lot lines or use an area at the rear of his property as he pointed to a space at the back of his property near a farm field. "I'd rather have it go back there and then out the front of my property," Wild said.
To Wild, the original plan made sense because the lines and poles would have been a few hundred feet from houses.
Now, the lines go back and forth across County Road 7, he said.
The Greenfields and neighbors have been impressed with the willingness of Cauwels and Wild to cooperate on an alternative plan.
"Joe Cauwels and Denny Wild are wonderful neighbors," Kaufmann said. "It's remarkable these landowners have shown that much interest and concern. That's tremendous."
