Paul Glassman, whose heritage home occupies a lot at the corner of Lansdowne Avenue and Côte St. Antoine, told The Examiner he doesn't want the pole.

Glassman's objection is based not only on the fact there are already two poles in his yard, but that the third one would be placed in front of his home at the end a short driveway.

"It would also have a supporting cable, which in itself is dangerous because kids always cut through our property and postmen cut through," he said. "When you're not expecting a pole and you're not expecting a cable, what you will be expecting is accidents."

One of the alternatives Hydro Westmount might offer is to relocate the overhead wires underground. "It's a possibility that was brought up by the director," added Glassman. "I don't have any great objection in principle to that. It would depend on how they do it and who pays."

According to Pierre Dubé, director of Hydro Westmount, the poles on the property now "are feeding most of the citizens on Lansdowne. I think there are six or seven on Lansdowne and one on the corner on Côte St. Antoine, and unfortunately in the aerial network there, there is a pole missing.

"We are trying to place the last pole, and there is a neighbour there … who already complained to us because she said, 'Hey, how come I have wires coming on my roof and they are feeding my neighbours from my roof?'

"She said this is not normal. I agreed it is not normal. So we're trying to find a solution to rectify that and place the famous last pole that should have been there."

Dubé said the electric hookup, which meets safety standards but is not up to modern electrical protocols, dates back about 50 years.

"We are trying to find any other solution than placing a pole on the property of Mr. Glassman — but the thing is there is a garage there which was constructed right over the line, which is not accepted as normal anymore, so I'm not able to pass on the other side of the land.

"I explained to Mr. Glassman that presently the only technical solution that we think we are able to do is the one that I would have to place a pole on the corner on the west limit. I want everybody to be satisfied."

Demands by residents to municipal officials to relocate utility poles are not unusual, says Westmount director-general Duncan Campbell, who dealt with similar requests when he was director-general of Town of Mount Royal.

"Certainly in other communities, yes, in Town of Mount Royal we often had people wanting to move a pole for some reason," he said. "But it doesn't come up very often."

Dubé is currently working on a long-term plan through which Hydro Westmount would eventually bury a large area of its aerial network underground. The cost, however, could be as high as $50,000 per business and household and he does not anticipate the plan being implemented for at least a decade.