Mansfield Sails Through Storm

The town's fame has apparently spread, as one more time its municipal electric department kept the lights blazing while surrounding communities were crippled by power outages.

Town Manager Bill Ross told selectmen Wednesday he was contacted by Fox 25 News at his house after this weekend's snow storm. Reporters wanted to know the story behind Mansfield's continued success at coping with storms that knock out the lines for customers of National Grid.

"I told them we work together as a team," Ross said. "We aggressively do tree trimming - the customers are the owners, and we try to treat them in that manner."

In reporting on the outcomes of the storm, Ross emphasized several times that the municipal electric department is a member of a larger team, whose members immediately respond in times of crisis.

"We have a coordination of activities," Ross said. The arrangement between the electric department and the rest of town services allows the public works employees to get out into the streets right away, clearing downed trees and branches until the linemen can respond.

"The teamwork is critical," he said.

Ross reported about 150 customers were affected by the storm, and all service was restored by midnight on Sunday, except for power to homes where the direct line from the street was downed by falling branches: in those cases, an electrician was needed before power could be restored.

The most significant outage was behind Inuquest on the West Street right-of-way off Forbes Boulevard in the Cabot industrial park. In that location a tree fell across a section of overhead conductors and destroyed a pole, knocking out service to Interpay, Smith and Nephew, Inuquest, and Trident, all on Forbes Avenue.

Repair of that structure and installation of a new pole took about 12 hours.

There was a single outage affecting 109 customers on Lawndale Road, Darby Drive, Cushing Lane, and Tania Drive.

Selectman Kevin Moran said the continuous maintenance of lines, laying of new conduit, and tree trimming plays a big part on the town's success, because the up-front work prepares the extensive system for bad weather and forestalls much of the storm-induced damage that has affected customers of the larger companies, who must wait until strapped crews get to them.

Ross added Fox 25 had also interviewed one Foxboro selectman, who was in Mansfield having dinner at a restaurant while his own town was black.

Board members commented Mansfield's businesses had likely benefited from the failure of power in other communities, just as they had after Tropical Storm Irene in August.

Ross added two crews from the Mansfield electric department had been sent to Groton after the October storm, to help out that community until power was restored.