TRAVERSE CITY -- Angry neighbors thwarted Wolverine Power Cooperative's first attempt to locate a large, high-voltage electrical substation on the west side of town.
Now there's a new site and new neighbors, who contend the company turned to stealth with a plan to build in Elmwood Township.
"It will be an ugly piece of metal that looks like an oil refinery," said neighbor Josephine Bargiel, who discovered the project when work crews showed up next to her Bugai Road home.
In a deal with Traverse City Light and Power, Wolverine Power Cooperative wants to build a $4 million substation to interconnect transmission lines controlled by Wolverine for Cherryland Electric Cooperative and Traverse City. The new substation would provide a second source of electricity for both companies.
Wolverine last spring abandoned a similar substation project on Gray Road in Garfield Township amid intense public opposition and skeptical township officials.
The new location is on an expansive farm plot on the corner of Bugai Road and M-72. The new substation would be adjacent to a residential subdivision.
The substation will cover 1.5 acres with electrical equipment that could tower up to 40 feet high.
"People can't believe how Wolverine Power can do this so underhandedly," said Mason Argue, developer of the adjacent Bahia Vista subdivision. "This is going to have a devastating effect to the neighboring property values."
Wolverine Power Cooperative spokesman Craig Borr said Elmwood Township was selected in part because Wolverine wouldn't have to appear before a zoning board of appeals.
Going before the ZBA would have required public notice, as it did in Garfield Township.
Borr said Wolverine officials intend to meet with adjoining property owners once project drawings are completed.
Wolverine is purchasing the property from Elmwood Township Trustee Terry Lautner, a senior vice president of the board for Cherryland Electric Cooperative.
Elmwood Township Supervisor Derith Smith said Wolverine approached the township in July, but she didn't hear another word about it until last week.
She said township records show Wolverine asked former township zoning administrator Don Witkowski for written confirmation that the project would not have to go before the planning commission.
Witkowski wrote back that the project was an "essential service" and was exempt from normal zoning requirements.
Smith said she's trying to determine if Witkowski had the authority to make that decision and if any permits are required. "Typically, the public has the right to challenge these decisions but they can't if they don't know about it," she said.
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