ITEM 6-C
Council Meeting: October 8, 1991 Santa Monica, California
TO: Mayor and City Council
FROM: City Staff
SUBJECT: Resolution Setting a Public Hearing to Approve the
Placement of Electric Power Lines Underground in Certain
Areas of the City and Submit Them to Utility Companies
for Funding
INTRODUCTION
This report recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution
setting a public hearing to approve areas of the City where the
electric, telephone and cable TV lines must be placed underground.
The areas recommended are; 1) Olympic Boulevard between Fifth
Street and Eleventh Street which includes the Lincoln Boulevard on
and off ramps to the Santa Monica Freeway and the intersection of
Lincoln and Olympic Boulevard westbound, and 2) Fourteenth Street
between Pearl Street and Ocean Park Boulevard (see attachment A for
details).
BACKGROUND
California Public Utility regulation, Rule 20A Section 8209,
specifies that each utility company must allocate two percent of
gross revenue for use in placing facilities underground. The
facilities include, electrical lines, telephone lines and/or cable
TV lines. The regulations specify locations where facilities may
be undergrounded using utility company funds. The regulations for
determining undergrounding locations include satisfying one or more
of the following: 1) those adjacent to a public use area such as a
park, Civic Center or school, 2) on arterial streets used by the
community at large, or 3) locations where there are unusually heavy
concentrations of wires and adjacent to an electrical substation or
other facility which causes significant interference with TV and
radio reception in nearby residences.
DISCUSSION
This program has been in place for approximately 16 years and prior
areas that have been undergrounded are Arizona Avenue from Sixth
Street to Twentieth Street, Pacific Coast Highway, the Central
Business District, and Marine and Sixteenth Street adjacent to
Marine Park and the electrical substation at that location. The
program has also included a small project in connection with the
Fourth Street on-ramp project.
The Edison Company states that the City of Santa Monica can at this
time designate a new project(s) for a cost of approximately $2.5
million. City policy has been to use the utility company funds to
underground facilities on major streets and alleys, especially
those serving large numbers of the public from throughout the City
and on those streets bordering electrical substations. Policy also
includes requiring property owners to pay for the portion of the
cost which entails running underground service from the property
line to the building electrical panel (and/or for a new panel if
one is required). The property owner portion of the cost is
usually less than 5% of the total project cost. The Edison Company
notified the City that on the two recommended projects there are
only 13 service connections to private properties which would be
required to be placed underground by property owners. Nine of
these service connections are to commercial sites and 6 are to
residential properties.
Locations in the City where property owners have requested that
utilities be undergrounded by using the utility company funds are:
Michigan Avenue-Lincoln Blvd. to 16th Street (a minor
residential street)
14th Street-south of Ocean Park Blvd.(a dead-end
street/not an arterial)
Marine Street-near Prospect to Lincoln (residential
street)
Staff has determined that none of the above meet any of the before-
mentioned regulations and thus do not qualify for funding. The
Edison Company has confirmed that the criteria is not met at these
locations. In addition, another project considered was Olympic
Boulevard between 22nd Street and 26th Street. Staff recommends
this project be done by requiring developers contributions and by
assessment district, at a later time, due to the large developments
anticipated at this location. In approximately 4 years another
project or projects can be designated. Because they are arterial
streets used by the community at-large some future projects for use
of utility funding may include:
14th Street-Olympic to Pico
Olympic Boulevard-11th Street to 22nd Street
These suggested streets, for future improvement, are arterials and
well traveled but do not pass by a public school or an entrance to
the City. They will however nicely continue the current project
before you tonight, if designated in approximately 4 years.
CONCLUSION
Staff has identified two projects which are recommended for Council
approval and submittal to the utilities company for implementation.
These areas are as follows:
Olympic Blvd. from 5th to 11th Streets This is a
principal entrance to the City and is estimated to cost
$910,000. The intersection of Lincoln and Olympic is one
of the most traveled arterials of any in the City and is
in the center of this proposed project.
Fourteenth Street-from Ocean Park Blvd. to Pearl St.
This is an arterial street with an especially heavy
concentration of power lines which passes by Will Rogers
School. The estimated cost to underground these
utilities is $1.6 million.
Following Council approval of this request, each project would be
designed in 1991, work would begin in 1992 and the estimated
completion date would be 1993. All trench and duct work will be
contracted to a construction company by the Edison Company. Cable
work would be done later by General Telephone, Edison and the cable
T.V. company.
BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT
The proposed undergrounding of utilities will be funded by the
utility companies. There is no budget or financial impact to the
City as a result of the formation of these underground utility
areas.
RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that the City Council, approve the Resolution
setting a Public Hearing for October 22th, 1991 on requiring
undergrounding the utilities on Olympic Boulevard from 5th to 11th
Streets and on 14th Street from Ocean Park Boulevard to Pearl
Street.
Prepared by: Stanley Scholl, Director of General Services
Attachment: Map of Proposed Undergrounding Areas
Resolution for Adoption