PSNH- Clean up your mess!

   I recently read in the Seacoast online news, that Public Service of New Hampshire is seeking city approval to build a $5 million substation off of the Route 1 Bypass in order to meet an increased demand for electricity.     I have no issue against the new substation, but feel that the city should somehow make the approval of that new structure conditional on PSNH's completing the cleanup of another substation that they left behind on Northwest Street in 1931.   The historic Jackson House on Northwest Street is the oldest house in New Hampshire as well as being the 6th oldest surviving wooden structure in the continental United States. It has been designated a National Historic Landmark.  This house should  be one of the crown-jewels of our town, but has been treated with disparagement by PSNH and, unfortunately for history's sake, the Jackson House also gotten short shrift from the Town of Portsmouth (for not protecting it's historical assets more diligently).   Immediately next door to this beautiful historic property is a caged-in, hideous, substation that is a leftover from the 1930's. It is arguably less hideous since PSNH dismantled a great deal of the interior structure in 2012.  At that time, assurances were made by a PSNH representative, that there were plans to erect a smaller, “more visually appealing” substation, with underground wires, a smaller footprint, landscaping improvements, and no more metal fence to surround it.  That has not happened.   The substation as it stands right now, looks like the the world's biggest kitty-litter. The  giant fenced-in area covered with crushed stone is FAR from what anyone would call landscaped. The very best senario would be it's complete removal.   The town of Portsmouth, specifically the HDC, asks a lot of me because I live next to one of it's most historically valuable properties. I need their permission to change any aspect of my exterior home. In turn, I expect the HDC to protect The Jackson House. Their rules have cost me time and money, but I willingly abide because the aim of these rules is to protect the fragile historical structure of this town that I love. Shouldn't the town and it's boards hold PSNH to that same standard?Most sincerely,Lisa Rundlett-Groux
http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20140214-NEWS-402140390http://www.seacoastonline.com/articles/20120806-NEWS-120809861http://www.historicnewengland.org/historic-properties/homes/jackson-house