FRANKLIN — The Planning Board on Oct. 14 unanimously approved Bangor Hydro-Electric Co.’s plan to construct a new transmission line in Downeast Maine, despite a pocket of resistance by some George’s Pond homeowners.

The nearly $70 million Downeast Reliability Project includes a new 115,000-volt overhead transmission line from Ellsworth to Columbia, a new substation and two new switching stations.

Ten miles of the project traverses Franklin. What is at issue for some is the section of the transmission line that would run 600 feet away from homes along George’s Pond.

Fifty-eight members of the George’s Pond Property Owners Association signed a petition prior to the Planning Board vote asking that the line be routed in another direction or be installed below ground.

However, the night of the Planning Board meeting only one member of the association, Ian Staub, was present.

“We do not want to take money out of the pockets of landowners in Franklin who have allowed right of way or outright purchases,” said Staub, a director of the association.

“We’re trying to maintain the pristine and natural beauty of the area by putting the line underground or on the ground, encased in concrete,” he said.

Staub said the association could appeal should the Department of Environmental Protection approve the permits, but he said it was unclear if the association would go that route.

Planning Board Chairman Brian Abbott said Bangor Hydro “did a good job of justifying the need for the system.”

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