CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Officials with Henry Ford Macomb Hospital in Clinton Township say providing high-quality care to their patients is at risk until the facility has a new reliable power source.
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However, how to provide that power has proved to be a controversial point for families living nearby.
The Shrine Project is a proposed nearly one-mile stretch of electric transmission line that would help the hospital, but it has many neighbors concerned.
Reporting from Clinton Township, I found that Henry Ford Macomb Hospital says its power lines are at near capacity. Just across the street from where I stood is the Shrine Substation. The hospital says it remains unconnected, even though a major investment was made in anticipation it would provide power support.
"They're taking out all our vegetation, they're taking out the trees, they're leveling the ground," Sharron Winters said.
Winters is opposed to the transmission line on 19 Mile and the possibility of the one-mile line invading her home.
"And I was told today I could have a backhoe sitting in my patio," Winters said. "These high poles are gonna be right in my bedroom window."
Winters has lived in the Westchester Village Condominiums in Clinton Township for over two decades. She says she will consider moving if the Michigan Public Service Commission approves the line connecting the existing Lenox-Stephens line to the Shrine Substation by the hospital.
Gary Kirsh, ITC senior area manager, was one of several employees participating in an open house discussion Tuesday with concerned residents and business owners.
"ITC was notified by DTE, our customer, that there was a need in the area for additional power, and one of the issues is for the hospital," Kirsh said.
The hospital says additional power is crucial to ensuring uninterrupted high-quality care to patients and supporting the hospital’s long-term growth.
There are two proposals on the table.
"ITC's proposed route is in the purple here to connect to the substation; the yellow line would be an underground route also connecting to the substation," Kirsh said.
Georgia Kontoudis also lives in the Westchester community.
"I've lost a lot of sleep over this," Kontoudis said. "I don't know how harmful, I mean, they say it won't be harmful, but we believe it will be, property values, most people if they see transmission lines 40 to 50 feet away from a condo community, they're less likely going to want to move in."
Last summer, the Clinton Township Board of Trustees rejected a special use permit to construct an electric transmission line on 19 Mile. Now, the project is moving forward through the Act 30 process with the Michigan Public Service Commission. Public meetings are a requirement of that act.
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"I have not learned anything new that I haven't known for the past five years," Winters said.
If the commission approves the overhead option along 19 Mile within about a year, ITC says construction would take six to eight weeks. The underground Dalcome route could take up to 18 months.
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