As the Board of Public Utilities continues its work on installing its fiber internet, board members are talking about how to get current internet providers to take down some poles in areas where they have been doubled for a few years.

At the BPU’s February meeting, Cory Allen, BPU deputy general manager of electric, said crews that are working on fiber installation are still working on slicing in the Huxley Street and Steele Street areas.

“The BPU line crews are still replacing poles,” Allen said. “They’ve done up to 496 pole replacements so far for that.”

The double pole issue was brought up by Marie Carrubba, board member and community representative, who said in her neighborhood there have been some places where companies have put two poles up and left them that way for years. Carrubba asked if there was a way the BPU could put pressure on the other internet providers to take some of the poles down.

“It gets to be really ridiculous when we’re talking in our neighborhood there have been double poles for years,” Carrubba said. “I think they really detract from the neighborhoods, especially people mowing and taking care of their properties get really irritated having to go around the extra set of poles.”

Allen said the BPU is restricted when it comes to these poles, as it is on the companies themselves to take them down. Carrubba said she understands that it is something that is going to take a while, but it should not be something that takes years. Council representative Tony Dolce, R-Ward 2, added that some of the older poles in some neighborhoods are broken and have also been broken for years.

It was noted that there are a lot of regulations when it comes to these poles, and that it was something the public service commission used to be very vigilant about, with part of that being to make sure there were never duplicate poles. Windstream was said to be the “biggest offender” when it comes to the duplicate poles, with not enough staff in the local area to take care of getting the older poles down and keep up with it. It was said there is only so much pressure that the BPU or public service commission can put on them, and it is something that can be found in every community across the state. The BPU also has to put new poles in anytime new infrastructure is being built, as they do not trust the old poles.

“Anything that can be done to continue it so they just don’t keep ignoring the problem and the situation, I appreciate it,” Carrubba said. “I know it’s not completely in our control but we need to keep after them to try and get them to do something.”