PORT TOWNSEND—Cable, Internet and phone services in Port Townsend may be disrupted early Friday morning.
The temporary outage will allow for removal of a utility pole fragment and replacement of lines on a new pole, repairing the damage caused by a drunken driver nearly five months ago.
On Sept. 24, a 1999 Chevrolet SUV driven by Chelah Mac Calla, 31, of Port Townsend, with three passengers inside, ran into the pole in the northbound lane of Sheridan Avenue near 25th Street.
The pole was uprooted and dragged about 25 feet, then rested at a 45-degree angle, supported by the electrical wires, according to police.
Pole
A new pole was replaced the next day, but a section of the old pole that held cables for Broadstripe cable TV and Qwest phone service was secured to the existing wires until the wires could be cut and reattached to the new utility pole.
Since then, the pole fragment has remained in place, though minor repairs have occurred to ensure its stabilization.
While the wires that are connected to the pole fragment carry thousands of messages each day, a lack of communication has delayed the repairs.
Broadstripe assistant manager Steve Jambor said the communications company contacted the contractor about the situation but could not get it scheduled, blaming the contractor.
Contractor Dan Bohman of D&L Cable in Seabeck said he did the initial reconnection but was not aware that he was expected to remove the pole fragment.
“We were going to come back to finish the job, but Broadstripe said they wanted their own people to do it,” Bohman said.
“Now that they’ve told us that we should do it, we are going to schedule it right away.”
Bohman said Wednesday that he expected to complete the job early Friday morning and that it would take only a few hours to disconnect the cable from the pole fragment, splice it together and reattach it to the new pole.
Jambor said he had not heard from Bohman directly and was unaware that it was on the contractor’s schedule.
Jambor said he did not know how many customers would lose their service during the repair period, but “it could be a large part of Port Townsend.”
Jambor, Bohman and Port Townsend Public Works Director Ken Clow said the pole fragment did not cause a safety hazard because it was secured to the wire.
Clow said he has received inquiries about the situation and referred them to Broadstripe asking that it be repaired but had received no response.
Bohman said he had done about 115 pole repairs in Jefferson County during the last year, and leaving a pole fragment with attached wires is a common stopgap measure.
Completing the repairs can only be done at certain times, when television and Internet customers don’t need the information.
“We used to do the repairs on the weekends, but you can’t interrupt football,” he said.
“We can only do the repairs when fewer people are watching, like late at night.”
Meanwhile, driver Mac Calla was charged with drunken driving, pleaded guilty and is paying $1,300 in fines on an installment plan.
She is allowed to drive, but only with an interlock device attached to the automobile.
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or charlie.bermant@peninsuladailynews.com.