While burying electric utility lines in the Village of Empire still has support, it won’t be possible to place the main transmission line along M-22 underground.

Last month, Consumers Energy officials presented conceptual ideas and cost estimates for burying most of the utility’s electric lines that run along M-22. During its Feb. 11 work session, the Village Council learned that the main transmission line along M-22 is a three-phase line and could not be buried. The conceptual idea that Consumers’ engineers developed would be to relocate the transmission line to the east of M-22 and bury the feed lines to businesses along the state highway.

According to information provided by Consumers, moving the main line would cost $150,000. Not included is the price to bury feeder lines, or the costs each private user would pay for a new meter and panel. There would also be costs for new utility easements, and related costs tied to other utility users like cable television and phone service providers.

Despite the challenges, the Village Planning Commission will continue investigating the option. At its meeting Tuesday, commission chairman Paul Skinner said the commission formed a committee of himself and member Robyn Johnson, who brought the idea of burying utility lines throughout the village to the council in November.

“We’re going to keep investigating the option,” Skinner said yesterday. Skinner has said he would like to see overhead utility lines buried whenever possible. “If you go to my village back home in England, you don’t see any overhead wires. It looks really nice,” he said.

In other business, the commission briefly reviewed the proposed update to the parks and recreation portion of the village Master Plan to include possible improvements to North Park.

The Village Council will review preliminary information and drawings provided by Gosling-Czubak planner Klaus Heinert at its March 11 work session meeting. Skinner said the council will hopefully include a review of the proposed Master Plan changes as part of that work session meeting.