by Mary Rupert
Some Board of Public Utilities members are still opposed to putting utilities underground on Leavenworth Road.
At issue is the cost, as UG is proposing to split the estimated maximum cost of $5 million with the BPU. The BPU members voiced their opposition at a work session tonight at BPU offices, 540 Minnesota Ave.
“If the UG believes undergirding infrastructure on Leavenworth Road is such a priority, then it has the means of paying for it,” BPU board member David Alvey said. He said the UG could pay for it with property taxes, sales taxes or other fees or taxes.
He said he believes the BPU should not share the cost. The cost will be coming from residents, the people who pay the bills, he said.
Unified Government Commissioner Mike Kane visited the BPU meeting and told board members he agreed with everything they said.
He said while he is in favor of road improvements, there is a better way to spend the money and there are bigger needs. He asked the BPU to get examples of how underground utilities would expose workers to safety hazards, how much underground utilities would increase BPU rates, and to see what other alternatives are available. He mentioned the Merriam Lane improvements. He said he believed there were ways to improve without spending all that money.
In Alvey’s opinion, sharing the cost is simply a way to hide the cost, he said. It would not be transparent to the customers. It would be fairer, he said, if this is something mandated by UG ordinance, it would become something the BPU bonds, then the BPU would have a rate adjustment to generate the funds, and it would show up as a rider on customers’ bills.
He said the BPU had the same experience earlier when they asked that the UG’s PILOT (payment in lieu of taxes) fee on the BPU bill be removed and just do a revenue transfer. That was not transparent, he said. Alvey said when he gets his gas company bill, he knows how much is going to the state and how much to the city.
“That’s fair and transparent,” Alvey said. “I will not participate in any committee that is going to operate under the presupposition that we have agreed to share the cost in this way. If the UG wants to do this as a simple ordinance, it’s their prerogative, but then it’s our responsibility as a BPU board to be transparent with who is dictating that and where the money is going.”
The UG Commission last Thursday passed a memorandum of understanding giving the UG administrator the authority to negotiate with the BPU an agreement to put utilities underground on one side of Leavenworth Road, capped at $5 million to be shared equally by the BPU and UG. The work would be between 38th and 63rd streets. The UG Commission did not put that underground utility project into an ordinance, however, so it is not mandated.
The UG Commission split 5-5 on the underground utility issue, before Mayor Mark Holland cast the tie-breaker vote in favor of the $5 million maximum option.
The UG and BPU will form a task force to discuss developing policies on placing utilities underground, the UG Commission agreed at that meeting.
BPU board member Bob Milan Sr. said the BPU has two responsibilities, quality water and electricity on demand, and that is its only mission.
“We’ve got to make sure our priorities are water and power,” he said.
Board Vice President Jeff Bryant said that the BPU already plans to spend $2.5 million to $3 million on the electric utilities along Leavenworth Road, and $5 million more would raise it to around $8 million. The cost of utilities there would be way too high a ratio for this project, he believes.
Also, Bryant was concerned that many older homes along Leavenworth Road might have to upgrade panels inside their house or replace their breaker boxes to accommodate the underground utilities, an expense that cost him about $2,500 about five years ago.
He is not against improvements, but “it has to be done in a sustainable, economical fashion,” he said.
Board President Tom Groneman said they are not against the entire Leavenworth Road improvements, which received a federal grant. The BPU was already planning $2.5 million to $3 million to bury power lines that crossed the street.
“I would be opposed to spending a great deal of money, $7 million or $5 million,” he said. He said it wouldn’t hurt to meet with the UG for discussions.
“This is the first time I can recall that the board has been asked to say yes or no to underground or aboveground” utilities, board member Mary Gonzales said. She’s wondering why she’s part of it now.
BPU General Manager Don Gray said that in many instances, when asked to bury the power lines, the BPU will ask the developer to pay the costs. Sometimes the BPU will pay some of it at its own expense, but that is usually for an economic development project. It depends on the development, he added. This is a road improvement, however, and no apparent defined economic development benefit to it, he said, just aesthetically pleasing.
“The cost to do that is just tremendously high,” he said. The BPU has aging infrastructure, old electric substations, old transformers, and a transmission system that needs upgrading, he said.
When they did work earlier on 55th and Leavenworth Road, the BPU was asked to move poles, not to put the lines underground, he said.
BPU board member Norm Scott said he wasn’t at the money part yet.
“Where are the plans? We don’t even know what we’re building,” he said. “I wouldn’t even build a doghouse if I didn’t know what it looked like.”
He said he wasn’t opposed to upgrading any roadway, but he was opposed to the fact that they didn’t know what they’re building. “I’m saying we have no plan.”
Gray told the board he went back through his meeting notes with the UG recently and he found no mention of underground utilities on Leavenworth Road during 2015. It wasn’t until Jan. 7, 2016, that the underground utilities were mentioned, he said.
It took months for engineers who the BPU hired to come up with three options for underground utilities, he added. The first option was $2.5 million to $3 million for eliminating the overhead wires that crossed the street, the second option was around $9 million for underground utilities on the south side of the road, and the third option was $17 to $18 million for burying utilities all along the roadway, which would cost as much or more than the road itself.
He said the staff is still trying to move forward to get the cost down on the project and it now has some direction from the UG on it.
Gonzales suggested that the BPU contact the UG about forming the task force soon.
Alvey said he remained opposed to sharing the cost, as proposed by the UG. Bryant was in favor of keeping open the lines of communication. Milan said the BPU needs to set its priorities very clearly.
To see an earlier story, visit https://wyandotteonline.com/leavenworth-road-project-moves-ahead-with-compromise-plan/.