Laguna Beach City Council meets Tuesday January 17 2017 at 6:00pm.
Laguna Beach City Council is having a Special Meeting to discuss the development of Laguna Beach Undergrounding of Utilities.
Laguna Beach City Council meets at Council Chambers located at 505 Forest Avenue.
The public is encouraged to attend.
Proposed Discussion Items Include:
Laguna Beach Utility Undergrounding Strategies and a Laguna Canyon Road Master Plan
Recommendations: Approve the following 9 recommendations for development of Utility Undergrounding Strategies and a Laguna Canyon Road Master Plan.
1) Direct staff to develop an incentive program for formation of utility undergrounding assessment district and to contribute funding for undergrounding of utilities along the City’s major evacuation routes and access roads such as Bluebird, Thalia, Upper Temple Hills, Glennyre, Coast Highway, Monterey, and Virginia Way for up to $6 million over the next four years
2) Direct staff to evaluate the safety of the electrical systems in the City and report deficiencies to the appropriate utility company and the California Public Utilities Commission estimated at $200,000 over the next 12 months
3) Authorize staff to solicit proposals from consulting firms to evaluate the feasibility of Community Choice Aggregation for Laguna Beach estimated at $70,000 over the next 12 months
4) Authorize staff to continue to work with the special legal counsel on the fire mapping process, development of the City’s Undergrounding Ordinance, and other legal issues estimated at $450,000 over the next four years
5) Authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a cooperative agreement with Caltrans for development of the Laguna Canyon Road Master Plan (Project Initiation Document and Project Study Report);
6) Authorize staff to solicit proposals from consulting firms for the development of the Laguna Canyon Road Master Plan costing an estimated $500,000 over the next 24 months
7) Authorize staff to send a request to Southern California Edison (SCE) to start the preliminary engineering for the design to underground transmission and distribution poles along Laguna Canyon Road as part of the development of the Laguna Canyon Road Master plan at the City’s cost estimated at $1.5 million over the next two fiscal years
8) Authorize the City Manager to modify the FY 16-17 budget to appropriate available funding sources shown in Attachment A to expenditures listed in recommendations 1-7 and described in Attachment A; and
9) Direct staff to work with the Utility Undergrounding Working Group to identify other potential opportunities such as Special Tax District or General Obligation Bond financing, in order to secure additional funding to assist with the undergrounding, and report back to the City Council on this matter by August 2017, with the understanding that any additional taxing measures would require approval through a community vote.
For more information please visit Laguna Beach City Council Agenda.
