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A group of Franklin Park residents has successfully diverted the construction of new power lines out of their yards. A second and larger group of residents was not so lucky.

The 10 households in Northmont Farms paid Penn Power a total $45,000 to find and build on an alternate right-of-way.

Instead of running through the yards of the 10 households, the power lines will run at the bottom of a ravine on land that cannot be developed.

The arrangement is highly unusual, said Joe Mosbrook, a spokesman for FirstEnergy Corp., the Akron, Ohio-based parent company of Penn Power.

"I have never heard of anything like this happening in the three years I have worked here," Mosbrook said.

The $1.6 million, 69-kilovolt power lines will run above ground. They will be completed by June, and construction will start within a matter of days, Mosbrook said.

Trees within 30 feet of the line will have to be cut, although some varieties of shorter trees could be replanted.

Ever since construction of the lines was announced last year, residents of about 30 households have expressed anger and worry about what the construction would do to their property's value.

The lines will run between a power substation near Brandt School and Pine Creek roads to a new substation being built along Rochester Road.

"No one likes this, but what can you do?" said Judie Hreha, who lives on Fairway Circle in the Bellwood Estates development.

Hreha and about 20 other Bellwood Estates residents were not able to get the lines moved out of their yards.

Her neighbor, Tom Martin, said, "This is the kind of thing that destroys property values."

Unlike the smaller number of residents in Northmont Farms, residents of Bellwood Estates were not able to find an alternate route for the power lines.

"Certainly, we understand the frustration of residents," Mosbrook said. "But we have an obligation to provide safe and reliable power."

Not all residents who contributed to divert the lines were directly affected by their installation.

Charlotte Ways, a member of Franklin Park Council, lives in Northmont Farms. Even though the new power lines will not go through her yard, she contributed to the fund to divert the lines.

"There were quite a few people who contributed to have the lines moved," Ways said. "There just was nothing the township could do to stop this."

As the area has grown, it has become acutely prone to power outages, Mosbrook said.

Last summer was a particularly hot one, and Penn Power had to resort to using mobile substations to provide adequate power for the area, he said.

"We obviously cannot operate responsibly with a constant threat of outages," Mosbrook said.

Between the start of June and the end of August, the temperature in Pittsburgh rose above 90 degrees on 21 days, according to the National Weather Service.

Borough officials have no control over the lines, and Penn Power has owned the right-of-way for 23 years.

Residents did have the option of burying the power lines, which would have reduced the trees needed to be cut down to a 20-foot swath.

But the price of underground lines would have been the same as the cost of the power lines themselves, at a cost of about $50,000 from each of the 30 households affected by the power line installation.

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