10-26-11 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES CITY COUNCIL OCTOBER 26, 2011 LITTLE CANADA ROAD PROJECT UPDATE The City Administrator reported that City staff met with Xcel Energy last week to discuss Xcel's cost estimates to underground utilities from Edgerton Street to County Road C. The Administrator reported that the estimate from Edgerton to MeMenemy is $416,249.78, the section from McMenemy to Centerville Road is another $400,000, and from Centerville Road to County Road C another $400,000. The Administrator indicated that in explaining the high cost, Xcel reported that several utility cabinets are needed along this stretch of road at a cost of $30,000 to $50,000 each. Xcel also indicated that in order to bury the powerlines on MeMenemy in front of St. John's Church (given the visibility from Little Canada Road), they would have to do some work in The Preserve because of the looped system which will add more costs. Therefore, the entire project would be over $1.2 million. The Administrator indicated that the City could pay for these costs through a City Requested Special Facilities Surcharge (CRFS). He reviewed a spreadsheet that Xcel put together to recover $850,000 in costs over a three year period would cost the average residential user $4.63 per month. This would include a carrying cost of $107,893 charged by Xcel. The Administrator indicated that he was waiting for additional information from Xcel on this carrying cost. The City Administrator stated that he would like to see the powerlines buried, but questioned spending this kind of money in light of other City needs. He pointed out that another option would be to bury one section of powerlines at a time, which would likely result in the overall cost increasing. He noted that even under this approach, the cost is significant. Keis pointed out that the quote from Xcel does not include the cost to property owners in having to upgrade their individual services. The Administrator reported that Xcel has determined that there will not be a significant impact to most of the properties along Little Canada Road, with the exception likely being St. John's Church. He also noted that if individual property owners do not want underground services into their homes /businesses, Xcel would be willing to place poles for these homes /businesses back further into the property provided that the City would obtain the necessary easements or permissions. Keis indicated that given the current economy, he cannot see spending this kind of money at this time. McGraw asked if the City lost out on this opportunity by not burying the powerlines in conjunction with the Little Canada Road project. The City Administrator reported that Xcel has indicated they could undertake the project at any time. He reported that the franchise agreement with Xcel stated that the City can require the powerlines be buried when the road is reconstructed. The Administrator 3