Commission jolts utilities plan

A proposal to bury underground utilities along Gulf of Mexico Drive surged closer to voters Monday, when the Longboat Key Town Commission voted to send two referenda questions to the electorate.

If approved by voters, the first ordinance would allow the town to seek a bond of no more than $19 million to bury utilities along Gulf of Mexico Drive. The second ordinance would allow the town to issue a bond of no more than $5 million to help neighborhoods bury their own utilities if residents petition the town.

Although the latter ordinance would not pay for undergrounding neighborhood utilities, issuance of the bond could help neighborhoods with upfront costs.

“If this would be successful, the neighborhood has to pull itself together to achieve whatever level — two-thirds vote or 75%, whatever you set — that many people have to agree on it, so there has to be a level of neighborhood communication for this to occur. If there’s not an association, support has to grow almost organically because the residents have to agree to tax themselves.”

If the commission adopts the ordinances on second reading at its Nov. 12 special meeting, both ordinances will appear on the town’s March 10, 2015 general municipal election ballot.

The commission voted on the ordinances at the end of a marathon day at Longboat Key Town Hall. The commission and the Planning and Zoning Board met for a joint meeting at 9 a.m. meeting, which was followed by the 1 p.m. regular commission workshop.

During the six-hour workshop, the commission reached consensus to forward the ordinances to a special meeting that Mayor Jim Brown called to order approximately five minutes after closing the workshop. The commission immediately discussed the ordinance because it seeks to meet the Sarasota County Supervisor of Election’s deadline for March’s election.

Danny Brannon, principle of engineering firm Brannon & Gillespie LLC, explained the benefits of burying power lines during the commission workshop.

“In all my time at FPL, we never had a case of a fatality with underground utilities,” said Brannon, who said there are many cases associated with overhead utilities.

The drawback: Underground construction costs are five to 10 times higher than overhead construction.

The $19 million and $5 million price tags that town staff presented to the commission represent the maximum amount the town will spend if it buries its utilities.

Brannon said the cost of burying utilities on the entire Key, rather than only on Gulf of Mexico Drive, would add approximately $15 million to the price tag.

Town staff first proposed the concept in May because FPL planned to conduct a hardening project to install larger, wider 41-foot poles along Gulf of Mexico Drive that would be more able to withstand hurricane-force winds.

Bob Gault, a Country Club Shores resident who petitioned the commission to reconsider its initial rejection of the project, called the decision “outstanding” after the workshop.

“It’s good for the whole island,” Gault said. “It’s good for aesthetics, it’s good for safety, it’s good for service reliability.”

Brannon estimated in his report that burying Gulf of Mexico Drive utilities would take approximately three years to complete.

Estimated project costs
Undergrounding utilities.............................................$13.1 million
Street lighting replacement/enhancement..............$4.4 million
Fiber optic line installation.........................................$500,000
Financing costs........................................................... $700,000
Contingency.................................................................$300,000
Total project cost for referendum..............................$19 million