Holton leaders hold off on plan for utility pole restoration

A proposal from a Georgia firm to restore deteriorating city utility poles around Holton’s Town Square has been put on hold by the Holton City Commission to see if the city could “piggyback” off any other cities in the area that need pole work done, in order to mitigate a charge related to the pole work.

During the commission’s regular meeting on Monday, commissioners reviewed a $39,686.06 proposal from Osmose Utilities Services of Atlanta, Ga., to restore 18 city utility poles located around the Square, but balked at a $15,000 “mobilization” cost involved with bringing a crew to Holton to restore poles that have been found in need of work due to age and deterioration.

Instead, the commission voted unanimously in favor of a motion by Commissioner Tim Morris to see if any other communities in the surrounding area needed similar work done by Osmose on utility poles and if they would be willing to have Holton “piggyback” off them to reduce or possibly negate the “mobilization” charge for work needed as soon as possible on eight poles located in Holton.

“If not, we’ll do whatever we can to get it completed,” Morris added.

Last August, commissioners approved a $13,750 proposal from Osmose to inspect and treat 59 utility poles in Holton, including most of the poles in the alleys around the Square, the two “take-off structures” at the city’s power plant and a transformer structure located near Holton Middle School. Osmose would also notify the city about poles in need of replacement or restoration, it was reported.

Holton Electrical Distribution Superintendent Corey Schuetz told commissioners on Monday that Osmose personnel identified 18 poles around and near the Square that were described as “restorable rejects,” poles that could be restored rather than replaced, as well as two poles classified as “non-restorable rejects,” poles in need of outright replacement.

Schuetz asked commissioners to allow Osmose personnel to perform restoration work on eight of the 18 “restorable rejects,” with the work to include placement of a utility pole truss around each of the poles, a cover cap for each pole to shield it from weathering and other deterioration and fumigation work on the poles, giving an estimated cost of $12,000 to restore the eight poles before adding the “mobilization” fee.

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