Undergrounding utilities

Duffy Price (duffy555 at gmail.com), a member of the Underground Utility Committee, writes:

The original exploratory committee was initiated in 2000, when Bob Fenwick was elected to the city council on a platform of undergrounding utilities to eliminate overhead ugly telephone poles and wires. However, after 4 years of doing the much needed exploratory work, efforts were abandoned due to the cost (estimated to be $50 million dollars). Then in 2002 when Dean Warshawsky was elected, and another all volunteer committee was appointed by the city council, the Underground Utilities project was vigorously renewed resulting in 2007 of a demonstration pilot project utilizing PG&E 20A Funding. (The costs for the undergrounding are recovered through electric rates after the project is completed.) Two areas of civic use & beauty - Purissima Road Little League Fields and the Altamont Road area of Byrne Preserve -- will be completed by late summer of 2008.

The primary objective of the pilot project is to determine exact costs so that individual homeowners who wish to pursue their own undergrounding project can form assessment districts.

There is no doubt that this is a significant achievement for this city council under the leadership of Council member Dean Warshawsky and his committee.

Now, the residents can begin the hard task of forming assessment districts. The example has been provided and now "rest of the story" can begin!