NORWICH – New York Regional Interconnect is proposing to bury a portion of its power line through Chenango County, according to a notice the company sent to The Evening Sun Thursday.

The notice, in summary, also offers a series of alternatives to the proposed route, including one that would use the existing Marcy-South transmission corridor.

Through Chenango County, the power line would follow the New York Susquehanna & Western railroad tracks, as well as a NYSEG corridor, for 44 miles. It runs through a total of eight counties.

NYRI was forced to offer route alternatives by the New York State Public Service Commission, the state’s power line authority, after its first route and permit application were ruled deficient. The company will re-file a complete application on or about Feb. 22, the notice states.

If NYRI’s proposed route is approved, based on information provided by Canadian-backed company, it appears roughly 6.4 miles of its line in the towns of North Norwich and Norwich would be placed underground. It will still slice overhead through the town and village of Sherburne, as well as the towns of Guilford, Bainbridge and Afton.

“In Chenango County, the route traverses the Village of Sherburne, continuing within the NYS&W railroad property in the Chenango River Valley to the Town of North Norwich, where it goes underground within the NYS&W railroad at NYS Route 12. At a point just south of NYS Route 320, the route departs from the NYS&W railroad and runs underground parallel to an existing electric transmission line ROW (right of way) and after passing under county Route 33 transitions overhead, passing across the towns of Norwich, Guilford, Bainbridge and Afton,” the notice states.

According to the description of the proposed route, the line would not be visible on the east hill overlooking the City of Norwich until it reached the base of Polkville Hill. And, although somewhat vague, it appears the line would be underground along populated areas of East River Road in the Town of North Norwich and Woods Corners, located in the Town of Norwich.

The PSC, however, has the final say how the route would look, if the line is approved.

“It doesn’t change our stance one iota,” said Betsy Mahannah, a Woods Corners resident whose house sits roughly 40 feet from where the line is proposed to go. “It’s just a band-aid, meant to appease a few people. They figure if they bury part of the line, people will be OK with it. Well it’s not OK. We’re not OK with it. They’re still disrupting 44 miles of rural land.”

The notice also summarizes four partial route alternatives in Chenango County, including one that bypasses the Village of Sherburne.