Town rewires neighborhood undergrounding plan

A new funding mechanism for burying power lines in Longboat Key neighborhoods will be vetted by the commission if the Gulf of Mexico Drive referendum passes in November.

By Kurt Schultheis
| 6:00 a.m. September 23, 2015

A construction crew works to replace a portion of an underground power line Sept. 17 along Harbourside Drive.

Longboat Key
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The Longboat Key Town Commission is temporarily cutting the power to a $20.5 million neighborhood referendum question.

The commission will rewire that concept and how taxpayers should fund it only when and if the $25.2 million Gulf of Mexico Drive referendum question to bury utilities along the island’s main thoroughfare passes in November.

A public education campaign that’s now underway doesn’t include any information about the second referendum question. The commission directed town staff Sept. 9 to pull the question language and the amounts individual property owners would pay from the town web site.

Country Club Shores Supports Referendum

All five neighborhood homeowners association boards of Country Club Shores support the Nov. 3 referendum to fund the burying of utility lines on Gulf of Mexico Drive. The boards voted unanimously Sept. 20 at a joint meeting.

The boards also agreed to mail letters in support of the referendum to all Country Club Shores residents.

At the same time, the Country Club Shores boards also plan to ask their residents to vote in favor of funding the burying of utility lines in their neighborhoods regardless of whether other neighborhoods approve it.

“We feel it is important to take advantage of and piggyback the GMD contractor mobilization to underground CCS neighborhoods to help minimize costs and expedite the project,” states the letter. “Even if the November referendum fails, we will appreciate your support in facilitating a funding mechanism that would allow CCS, upon a referendum of approval of CCS voters, to accomplish this undergrounding objective for our five neighborhoods.”

The letter says Country Club Shores property owners would be entirely responsible for the cost of underground utilities in the five CCS neighborhoods.

Assistant Town Manager Anne Ross intended to answer questions regarding the second referendum during educational forums this fall.

But the commission is worried the cost of the second project, which they want to discuss again, will cause voters not to approve the Gulf of Mexico project.

Last year, the commission approved a concept for a second question proposing to bury utility lines in neighborhoods. It proposed to require affected neighborhood property owners to fund the project with assessments. Residents in areas that already have buried utilities would not pay for any of the neighborhood costs.

“I would like to see some modification of the funding,” said Commissioner Jack Daly.

Daly called to remove the information from the website.

Commissioner Irwin Pastor agreed, calling it a matter of affordability.

At the commission’s regular workshop Monday afternoon, the commission reaffirmed its decision to hold off on the second referendum question. At its Sept. 28 special meeting, commissioners will vote officially to rescind the second question information and vet it in a public meeting only if and when the Gulf of Mexico Drive referendum passes.

Assistant Town Manager Anne Ross isn't discussing a neighborhood undergrounding utilities plan in educational forums this fall.

“We don’t have a preferred mechanism for referendum two,” said Vice Mayor Terry Gans. “It becomes confusing and inflammatory and potentially has an impact on referendum one.”

Commissioner Phill Younger said he has heard from may property owners with underground utilities who don’t want to pay for others’ buried utilities. He said he prefers to debate the second question after the Gulf of Mexico Drive referendum is held and potentially approved.

“I think how we approach the side street issue is up for debate, but we should stay the course on GMD right now,” Younger said.

Burying the side streets, if kept in its current funding form, would encompass 30% of the Key’s property owners.

Some commissioners and proponents of the Gulf of Mexico Drive referendum have expressed concern that the cost of burying lines in the neighborhoods may be perceived to be so costly that voters would turn down the Gulf of Mexico Drive referendum so the second question is never brought forth.

As an example, the property owner of a home on Ranger Lane that has overhead wires would pay $208.22 annually over 30 years for the Gulf of Mexico project. If the funding plan for the second referendum stays in place, that same homeowner would pay $589.59 annually for 30 years to bury the utility lines going to his home.

In contrast, that same scenario would cost a property owner in Bay Isles, which already has buried lines, $127.88 annually for the Gulf of Mexico Drive project and nothing to bury the neighborhood utility lines.