Come rain, shine, or frigid cold, Sheboygan County’s Neighbors4Neighbors (N4N) is determined to have their voices heard.
A small, but mighty group protested outside power company ATC’s building in Waukesha on Thursday afternoon.
They’re continuing to oppose the Plymouth Reliability Project, headed by ATC, which they say puts their properties in jeopardy with high-voltage power lines.
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Watch: Sheboygan Co. residents protest power company, denied meeting
"It's going over folks' barns and very close to where people are living, and has very significant environmental impacts,” said supporter Cheryl Nenn with the Milwaukee River Keepers.
N4N has been trying to fight the project for nearly a year, challenging it in town and city meetings, in court and with the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSCW).
"It has been deadline after deadline that we have had to meet," said protester JoAnne Friedman. "No one has listened to our pleas to protect the area."
PSCW gave the verbal green light for the project in mid-December.
“Do you have hope?” I asked Nenn.
“Well, it's certainly an uphill climb,” she said. “I mean, it's very hard to challenge these transmission projects."
Nonetheless, the group continues to protest, holding their first one outside Plymouth Utilities on Jan 9.
Power project protest outside Plymouth Utilities sends message: ‘We can’t quit’
But they had one specific goal on Thursday.
"To get a meeting with the engineers that we've been asking for and they've been denying us,” said protest lead Joe Koenig.
"We’ve been requesting this since the beginning of finding out about the project,” added Friedman.
So the group drove an hour or more to ask in person.
"We're two landowners,” Koenig spoke into the ATC intercom with protester Dan Kraemer. “We're being affected by the Plymouth Improvement route and we'd like to come in and ask for a meeting."
A voice replied from the inside: “We're not authorized to let you in at this time so we will not be granting you access."
With that, they left a phone number with little hope of getting a callback.
"Well, Dan, it looks like they don't want to let us in. They won't talk to us just like I figured they wouldn't."
I reached out to ATC asking if it would accept a meeting with N4N.
A spokesperson responded saying they understand the impact their projects can have on landowners and will move forward with the project after getting the PSCW's written approval.
ATC did not address the meeting request.
But the Sheboyganites refuse to give up.
"We're here to fight.” Koenig insisted. “We're not going to go down without a fight."
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