SHEBOYGAN COUNTY, Wis. — It all started last summer when residents in and around the Plymouth area reached out to me in an attempt to save their homes and farms.
"I love it here, and I don't want it destroyed," one resident said.
Folks banded together to form Neighbors 4 Neighbors, or N4N, a group opposed to the Plymouth Reliability Project, run by power company ATC.
The project would bring more reliable power to four key locations: the ANR gas pipeline, the DNR fish hatchery, Kettle Moraine Prison, and the town of Mitchell.
Watch: Plymouth power line dispute continues as residents fight ATC project, flag another project
But it also meant power lines running across and over the top of people's properties.
"It's going to probably be within 10 feet of my front door," another resident said.
They spent months expressing their opposition in town meetings and at protests.
Ultimately, the Public Service Commission approved the project.
But N4N wasn't finished.
"We're here to fight. We're not going to go down without a fight," they said.
They're currently in a legal battle with ATC, with hopes of appealing the decision.
As it looks today, though, the project is moving full steam ahead.
"It's just so difficult to watch this," JoAnne Friedman said.
Friedman and Chris Kestell are leaders of N4N. They watched as ATC contractors removed trees from people's yards.
They're clearing the way for the power lines to reduce the risk of power outages or fires.
"It's unfortunate because once these trees are gone, you can never replant them. They can never come back," Kestell said.
"This is what will happen to our property [next]," Friedman noted.
The line is already marked at Randy Pietsch's place.
"The property's been in the family for over 100 years — 110 years," Pietsch said.
"All those beautiful cedar trees are going to go," he said, surveying his family home, complete with a beloved trout pond.
"This is permanent. You can't have anything under it but grass, I guess," Pietsch said.
Friedman, Kestell and Pietsch are raising concerns about another ATC proposal called the Ozaukee Distribution Interconnection Project, intended to serve a "new large load addition" in Port Washington.
The preferred route, N4N says, is one they recommended for the Plymouth project. The PSCW previously deemed it unusable due to environmental conflicts.
"Specifically, Nichols Creek Wildlife Area and Onion River Streambank Protection Area," Friedman read.
I reached out to ATC for comment. The company responded in part: "If the project is approved, the PSCW selects the final route. This process was followed for the Plymouth Reliability Project, and the PSCW selected the preferred power line route."
N4N is set for another hearing on Nov. 11.
"We've been waiting patiently for our day in court," Kestell said, insisting that they'll continue their fight in the name of their homes and farms.
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