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HomeMy WebLinkAboutUtility Undergrounding in PD - Ad Hoc Cmte RcmndationCITY OF PALM DESERT STAFF REPORT REQUEST: CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATION FROM AD HOC COMMITTEE REGARDING UTILITY UNDERGROUNDING IN PALM DESERT SUBMITTED BY: David Hermann, Management Analyst DATE: April 14, 2016 Committee Recommendation 1. Adopt the undergrounding of all utility lines in Palm Desert as a goal of the City. 2. Direct staff to evaluate the feasibility and cost of hiring a consultant to prepare and administer a utility undergrounding master plan for the City of Palm Desert. 3. Direct staff, following completion of the undergrounding master plan, to implement a plan for undergrounding utility lines, and to conduct community outreach, including the preparation and dissemination of a Utility Undergrounding Guide, which will educate the public about the master plan and encourage and guide residents through the undergrounding assessment district formation process. 4. Appropriate funds from unobligated General Fund Reserves, not to exceed $100,000 for the purpose of facilitating utility undergrounding and create a line item in the annual budget dedicated to that purpose. Strateqic Plan Obiective The Committee believes that expenditures to facilitate utility undergrounding represent a worthwhile investment in the future of our community that accomplishes goals outlined in the Land Use, Housing, and Open Space section of the Envision Palm Desert Strategic Plan, specifically the preservation of view corridors. Background In March, 2015, the Palm Desert City Council approved the formation of an ad hoc Committee to study utility undergrounding in Palm Desert and how the City's existing processes related to undergrounding could be improved. Staff Report Utility Undergrounding in Palm Desert Page 2 of 4 Composed of eight citizen volunteers and City Council Members Sabby Jonathan and Van Tanner, the Palm Desert Utility Undergrounding Ad Hoc Committee met nine times over 10 months to identify ways to encourage and facilitate the undergrounding of utility infrastructure in Palm Desert. Operating on the premise that underground utilities are preferable, for a variety of reasons, to unsightly above ground lines and poles, the Committee reached a consensus that the relocation of utility infrastructure below ground should be a priority for the City with staff time and financial resources dedicated to ultimately accomplishing the goal of community -wide utility undergrounding. The Committee believes that an initial and significant step in the process of achieving that goal will be the creation of an undergrounding master plan. Such a plan would: 1. Create a map identifying areas served by above ground utility infrastructure; 2. Identify and prioritize locations eligible for Rule 20A funding; 3. In residential and commercial areas ineligible for Rule 20A funds, outline potential boundaries for utility undergrounding assessment districts that would be logistically and economically feasible; 4. Calculate and refine cost estimates for utility undergrounding including updated engineer estimates to arrive at reliable construction costs for proposed projects; 5. Recommend ways to simplify and streamline the City's existing assessment district formation process. 6. Identify a metric for measuring the City's annual investment in and progress toward the goal of community -wide undergrounding. Community members interested in pursuing the formation of a utility undergrounding assessment district in their neighborhoods could refer to the master plan for information about potential district boundaries and to get a rough idea of a project's potential price tag. Recognizing that one of the greatest challenges to utility undergrounding is its significant cost and that the City no longer has access to the Redevelopment dollars it has used to subsidize past undergrounding projects, the Committee studied numerous options to help fund it. Not content to rely on what has been -A r Staff Report Utility Undergrounding in Palm Desert Page 3of4 done in Palm Desert before, the Committee evaluated how other communities have paid and are paying for utility undergrounding. The Committee's consensus is that the City should further investigate and rely on a virtual toolbox of funding mechanisms including existing resources such as Rule 20A funds, Redevelopment Agency bond proceeds, and the formation of assessment districts under Rule 2013, as well as potential new funding sources including the purchase of Rule 20A credits from other public agencies, Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts, and the possibility of placing a utility tax on the ballot with proceeds dedicated exclusively to utility undergrounding. Many Palm Desert property owners have already paid or are still paying for their below ground utilities. The Committee believes it is important that those who benefit from undergrounding should participate in paying for it. The aforementioned City funding mechanisms would be intended to pay for utility undergrounding in the public right of way and would serve as a significant supplement to participation from residential and commercial property owners who would pay the cost of undergrounding on private property. The Committee strongly recommends that the City's facilitation of utility undergrounding should not be limited to financial support, but should also include public outreach and community education regarding the assessment district formation process. This process as it currently exists is complex and often confusing. The Committee believes that the City should make every effort to streamline and simplify the process beginning with the creation of a Utility Undergrounding Guide that could be provided, both at City Hall and digitally online, to property owners interested in learning more about the process. Additional outreach could take place via the City's a-gov website, social media, and in printed materials such as the BrightSide newsletter. Fiscal Analysis The Committee recognizes that the preparation and administration of an undergrounding master plan will require additional funds and resources not currently accounted for in the City's budget. Undergrounding projects that come forward as a result of the master plan and related public outreach could also require additional City expenditures. Staff Report Utility Undergrounding in Palm Desert Page 4 of 4 Potential funding sources include existing Rule 20A funds, Redevelopment Agency bond proceeds, as well as the purchase of Rule 20A credits from other public agencies, Enhanced Infrastructure Financing Districts, and the possibility of a utility tax on a future ballot. No money exists in the current or upcoming fiscal year budgets for utility undergrounding. Submitted By: I L,-,p l --, David Hermann, Management Analyst ,O?a /Ile `Rudy4Ccosta, Acting City Manager Klassen, Rachelle From: Sent: To: Cc: Subject: Attachments: Hello, Hermann, David Wednesday, April 13, 2016 6:31 PM Klassen, Rachelle Mendoza, Grace FW: Utility Undergrounding Ad Hoc Committee's Recommendation to be Presented to City Council Thursday Letter to City Council.pdf Please see the attached letter from Roland Alden to the City Council in connection with the utility undergrounding agenda item at tomorrow's City Council meeting. Please let me know if you need me to make copies for the Council. Thank you! David -----Original Message ----- From: Roland Alden fmailto:raldenPralden.coml Sent: Wednesday, April 13, 2016 5:56 PM To: Hermann, David Cc: Merilee Colton Subject: RE: Utility Undergrounding Ad Hoc Committee's Recommendation to be Presented to City Council Thursday Alright then. But I can't bear to watch. I attach a letter which I hope you can arrange to give to each council member before or by the meeting. 1 Palm Desert Underground is a i" group of citizens concerned about the aging aerial utility infrastructure in the older PALM. DESERT neighborhoods of Palm Desert. To: The City of Palm Desert 73-510 Fred Waring Drive Palm Desert, CA 9226o Honorable Councilmembers, Join us on or at www.palmdesertunderground.com 74741 Candlewood Street Palm Desert, CA 9226o April 14, 2o16 I have chosen to stay away from today's council meeting because of the threat of a circus atmosphere around the City Manager; frankly, I cannot bear to watch. However, the matter before you today "CONSIDERATION OF RECOMMENDATION FROM AD HOC COMMITTEE REGARDING UTILITY UNDERGROUNDING IN PALM DESERT" is most important. I was on the committee in question and I want you to support the staff report. Here is why: 1. The creation of a line item in the budget for undergrounding is of utmost importance, even if that budget is only funded at $o or $i to start. What is important is that there be some way for the citizens to measure the gap between the need and the City's commitment to meet the need. 2. Hiring a consultant to act as an advocate for undergrounding within the city is equally critical. My earliest on -the -record engagement with the City on this issue is as old as zoo? when Mayor Kelly assured me there was a "...plan to eventually underground most of the City." In the nine years since I have witnessed a limitless capacity to deflect, ignore and obfuscate this issue. Only a person dedicated wholly to this task alone, evaluated according to actual metrics of progress, will be willing to do what it takes. The proposal before you truly represents a logical next step for this matter. By itself, it is insufficient, but the right person with an appropriate mandate could catalyze real progress. The present rate of undergrounding is better than zero; undergrounding of all the older residential areas is on track to be completed within 143 years. However, if you do nothing that figure will surely get worse. It will take heroic effort to reduce the timeframe to anything less than 75 years. I implore you to take this modest first step today, and then be supportive of future actions. None of us will live to see our city completelyfree of this blight. However, in too years Palm Desert could be the masterpiece it should be. No longer the ugly sibling of Indian Wells and Rancho Mirage. Sincerely; Roland Alden, raldenQa ralden.com, (415) 6o8-5981