SAUGUS — National Grid paid off some of the money owed to the town after selectmen threatened to deny all requests from the company until the balance was paid.
At the start of the month, National Grid owed the town more than $47,000 for police and fire details related to electrical work, and selectmen said they wouldn’t allow another pole to be installed until the invoices were paid.
Each time National Grid requests to install a pole, remove a double pole, or complete other work, the board makes the approval contingent upon the outstanding balance being paid, said Selectman Jeff Cicolini. But that hasn’t been happening.
“We’re putting the condition on it, but it looks like they’re continuing to do the work,” he said. “The number gets bigger every time they come before us.”
The balance included invoices dating back to January 2018, he said.
Christine Milligan, a spokeswoman for National Grid, said the company has since started to resolve the issue. As of Monday afternoon, more than half the balance had been paid.
“We’ve been working with the town of Saugus to make sure we have all of their invoices and we are paying them down,” said Milligan.
National Grid has paid the town more than $25,000 in the past week and expects to have “most of the remaining balance paid over the next several days,” she said.
“We continue to work with the town on the progression of anything outstanding,” said Milligan.
When a representative from the company went before the board to request a conduit for a new home on Walnut Street earlier this month, selectmen considered denying it because the company hadn’t been paying the bills.
But the homeowner, Eduardo Muniz, said delaying the approval of electricity to his home would mean he and his family could not move in. The sale of the home they are living in now on Bisbee Road is expected to close on July 25.
“I have no place to stay,” said Muniz. “I’m probably going to have to go to a hotel with my kids and store my furniture.”
Selectman Scott Brazis, who acknowledged that it’s unfair to the resident, also argued that action needed to be taken at some point.
“Once again we’re the bad guys here, but we’re the ones out $47,000,” he said.
The board ultimately decided to approve the application for Muniz’s home contingent on the bills being paid, but voted to have an email sent to National Grid to let them know that no more work will be done in the town until all of the outstanding money owed is paid.
“We are not going to allow one more pole in the ground until this is paid,” said Brazis.
