Thursday, February 2, 2006
Hidden Wires - Who Pays and Is It Worth It?
First, a quick note to remind you that it's a new month, so
there's a new batch of questions on my "Just Wondering..." page.
Simply slide your cursor across to the left and click on the
page.
Some may recall that many months ago Mayor Allan Mansoor floated the idea of placing all the utility wires throughout the city underground. At the time representatives from Southern California Edison made a presentation to the council and outlined the process and costs.
As I recall, back then it was estimated that it would cost nearly $1 billion to perform the undergrounding throughout the city. According to sources in the city, based on their experience with the undergrounding project at 19th Street and Placentia Avenue, the billion bucks will probably be short by half - it would likely take $1.5 billion and counting! That's not the worst of it, though. That cost only takes the power, telephone and cable wires to the property line. From that point it's up to each property owner to get the connections from the street to their homes.
This idea, like a big boulder, is being pushed to the crest of the hill now, with plans being made to use a poll conducted by consultants the city will hire to ask a sampling of residents if they want to proceed with this project. If the response is affirmative, then it is likely that the City Council will proceed with the steps necessary to find ways to fund it, one of which might be to place a bond issue on the November ballot. Once that decision is made and if the voters approve it, that boulder begins rolling downhill toward us.
It is assumed that "utility districts", the size of which still must be determined, would be formed to consider the undergrounding in each neighborhood. You and your neighbors would become participants in one of those districts. If the majority of property owners in your district - it's not clear whether such a plan requires only a simple majority or two-thirds - wants to proceed, all those neighbors who don't want to do so will be forced to join the project and shell out some serious dollars to stay connected to the power, telephone and cable grids.
When I first heard about this plan I contacted a couple contractors to get an idea of the cost to me once the wires are in the street near my home. The best estimate I could find was around $11,000 to make the connections. That was eighteen months ago, so I assume these numbers have increased and are now in the area of $15,000. That kind of cost will be a big hit for most homeowners, and particularly for those living on a fixed income with limited resources.
During their presentation to the council the folks from Southern California Edison were asked which system was easier to maintain - our present system of overhead wires on poles or the proposed underground system. Without blinking an eye they immediately responded that the present system is far, far easier to maintain. What we are talking about here is simply an aesthetic move - a $1.5 billion face lift, as it were.
So, here we have yet another plan proposed by our young mayor that has the potential to, once again, turn neighbor against neighbor. Such is the state of leadership in Costa Mesa these days.
2:41 pm pst
Some may recall that many months ago Mayor Allan Mansoor floated the idea of placing all the utility wires throughout the city underground. At the time representatives from Southern California Edison made a presentation to the council and outlined the process and costs.
As I recall, back then it was estimated that it would cost nearly $1 billion to perform the undergrounding throughout the city. According to sources in the city, based on their experience with the undergrounding project at 19th Street and Placentia Avenue, the billion bucks will probably be short by half - it would likely take $1.5 billion and counting! That's not the worst of it, though. That cost only takes the power, telephone and cable wires to the property line. From that point it's up to each property owner to get the connections from the street to their homes.
This idea, like a big boulder, is being pushed to the crest of the hill now, with plans being made to use a poll conducted by consultants the city will hire to ask a sampling of residents if they want to proceed with this project. If the response is affirmative, then it is likely that the City Council will proceed with the steps necessary to find ways to fund it, one of which might be to place a bond issue on the November ballot. Once that decision is made and if the voters approve it, that boulder begins rolling downhill toward us.
It is assumed that "utility districts", the size of which still must be determined, would be formed to consider the undergrounding in each neighborhood. You and your neighbors would become participants in one of those districts. If the majority of property owners in your district - it's not clear whether such a plan requires only a simple majority or two-thirds - wants to proceed, all those neighbors who don't want to do so will be forced to join the project and shell out some serious dollars to stay connected to the power, telephone and cable grids.
When I first heard about this plan I contacted a couple contractors to get an idea of the cost to me once the wires are in the street near my home. The best estimate I could find was around $11,000 to make the connections. That was eighteen months ago, so I assume these numbers have increased and are now in the area of $15,000. That kind of cost will be a big hit for most homeowners, and particularly for those living on a fixed income with limited resources.
During their presentation to the council the folks from Southern California Edison were asked which system was easier to maintain - our present system of overhead wires on poles or the proposed underground system. Without blinking an eye they immediately responded that the present system is far, far easier to maintain. What we are talking about here is simply an aesthetic move - a $1.5 billion face lift, as it were.
So, here we have yet another plan proposed by our young mayor that has the potential to, once again, turn neighbor against neighbor. Such is the state of leadership in Costa Mesa these days.
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