Residents to speak out about Dairyland Power’s plans at council meeting tonight

Co-op is accused of bypassing zoning
issue to update power-line structures

The fight against replacing power lines continues at a La Crosse city council meeting tonight.

At least that’s how some activists are framing a seemingly innocuous zoning issue in front of the council.

Onalaska, Wis., native Ann Kathan is fighting Dairyland Power over the company’s plans to replace 65-year-old wooden power line structures with new towers along the same route.

And that’s really the problem, she believes.

“What we’ve been talking about from Day 1 is that there are lots of opportunity to move this line,” Kathan said. “It can be done and it should be done, but Dairyland has steadfastly refused to even consider those opportunities.”

Dairyland maintains that the lines need updating to remain reliable.

The power co-op also denies that the zoning issue in front of the council has anything to do with its transmission-line plans. Plans that will build new towers directly over homes.

“This project purposely has been made invisible,” Kathan said. “It is an attempt to strip away the community’s right to look at this project and to put the public spotlight on it.”

She insists Dairyland has essentially paid for the resolution in order to make it easier to replace its transmission lines. Dairyland denies that the two issues are connected at all.

“I’m speaking on behalf, not only on my family and our concerns,” said Kathan, “but the residents who live, not only up and down the line, but the residents of all of our communities, because this line has an impact on all of us.”