To the Editor:

This follows up on my letter to the editor [“Why is town silent on transmission-line work?” Aug. 8, 2024] regarding the town of Guilderland’s failure to communicate with residents about the transformation of West Old State Road into a commercial service road for the high-voltage transmission-line project that will benefit electricity customers in the New York City area.

I want to correct something in my initial letter. I first emailed town Supervisor Peter Barber on April 12, 2024 to ask what was happening generally and what the town was doing to inform and protect residents, and to alert him to the dangers imposed on a narrow country road.

He did not respond.

Then, about a week later, a contractor truck sheared off a utility wire, leaving tire marks as it screeched to a stop. First responders were called to the scene.

It was then that I emailed Mr. Barber a second time, on April 22, 2024, soon after the incident. I alerted him to what happened and asked if we were on the town's radar.

Even after a real-life example of the threat to public safety, he did not respond.

It took a letter to the editor to get a reaction.

Now, after almost four months, in his reply to The Enterprise, Mr. Barber claims to have acted “immediately.” Gaslighting anyone? How about complacency and indifference.

Mr. Barber’s reply speaks volumes.

First and worst, he is quoted as saying he recalled that “a resident was concerned about truck traffic and damage to a dead-end road ....”

A dead-end road.

Ask yourself why Mr. Barber chose to add that.

Thirty-four families live on this “dead-end road.”

Are residents living on dead-end roads second-class citizens?

We’ve seen the town spring into action near-instantaneously in other cases, for example, when residents of Gun Club Road complained about logging, or when, god forbid, it received an anonymous tip that a homeowner was advertising to rent his house temporarily, terrorizing the populace with the threat of an Airbnb. A cease-and-desist order followed within days.

This project has disadvantaged an entire community for the last four months and will continue to do so for months to come. Clear-cutting directly behind residents’ homes has removed mature, old-growth trees, including huge elms.

We’ve heard not one peep about it from either the developer or the town. Incredibly, I learned from an unimpeachable source that the newly-elected highway superintendent, who is doing a magnificent job by the way, has had no communication from the developer about the project.

As part of the Environmental Management and Construction Plan for an Article VII transmission line project, the developer is supposed to work with local officials to make sure residents are informed and protected.

As part of its basic responsibilities to residents, one would think the town of Guilderland would be doing the same. The developer's website trumpeted community open houses that were scheduled for the end of July in Tarrytown and Kingston. When was the open house for the little dead-end town of Guilderland?

Ironically, the town supervisor’s performance here coincides with his idea to change the Town Code so that he only has to face voters every four years, instead of the two years that have been working just fine.

Elections are about accountability. Right now, based on my experience, there is no accountability at Town Hall. If there is a dead end, it's not on West Old State Road.

Richard Gifford

Guilderland