While subdivisions are already required to put utilities underground, this new ordinance now requires all utility service extensions, such as electricity, telephone telecommunications cables and others, to be placed underground.
The idea behind the ordinance, said its author, council member Mike Heimbuch, is to limit the number of overhead cables in the city in the future.
“You can’t live in a town that brags about the value of its view property, and then refuse to recognize the fiscal impact on that property by view degradation,” Heimbuch said.
The new rules tell utility companies, like Homer Electric Association, that the city’s first preference is to put new cables underground, he said.
It doesn’t affect old lines and there are 10 exceptions written into the new rules that would allow for overhead lines, including plans that require facilities to cross swampy areas or areas subject to abnormal drainage.
The ordinance came up in August after residents near the Country Club Estates subdivision complained that utility work there negatively impacted the value of their properties. The city eventually revoked the right-of-way permit for HEA to do work there.
“We’re not trying to undo a bunch of wrongs, we’re trying to keep it from happening again,” Heimbuch said.
In a letter to the council, Rick Eckert, manager of business development and regulatory affairs for HEA, said the company plans on asking the Regulatory Commission of Alaska to “approve a new rule that allows HEA to charge a consumer within the City of Homer 100 percent of cost increases due to the ordinance.”
Typical installations, whether they are overhead or underground, cost roughly the same, Eckert said, and HEA normally charges consumers 40 percent of the cost to provide service. But in situations when nonstandard costs apply, such as the need to use a helicopter in setting lines or boring under a road, those extra costs are passed on to the consumer.
Where this new ordinance could hit consumers in the pocketbook is in situations where it requires lines to be placed under improved roads where they could have gone above ground before, Eckert said.
“It could be many times more expensive,” he said. The difference between paying 40 percent of standard service installation or 100 percent of the more expensive type of installation could be dramatic, he said.
But, Eckert said, there is no way of knowing how much more consumers are going to have to pay for service extensions, since each situation is different.
Also unknown at this time, is whether the new ordinance may increase electricity rates for city residents.
“If we have the flexibility to go overhead or underground then we are able to keep resulting electric rates at the lower end,” he said. The new ordinance takes away some of that flexibility in Homer, while Kenai and Soldotna are not as restricted, he said.
At this point, however, Eckert said the fairest approach is to charge more to people wanting the new underground service than to charge everyone.
In other news, the council whittled 60 proposed projects for the Capital Improvement Projects (CIP) list down to the top 15.
Proposals making the cut were:
1. Water supply upgrade, including a proposed new water treatment plant, water source and water shed land acquisitions: $6-$14 million.
2. Deep Water Dock Expansion, Phase 1: $28 million.
3. Town Center — land acquisition for roads, Homer City Hall/Town Square Infrastructure: $2 million.
4. Kachemak Bay Campus Expansion: $2.5 million.
5. Senior Access Trail. $80,000.
6. Intersection Improvements — support state project (dollar amount not defined)
7. Main Street Reconstruction — support state project (dollar amount not defined)
8. Harbor maintenance, including harbor entrance erosion control and Pioneer Dock fenders: $680,000.
9. Paving Freight Dock Road: $300,000.
10. Spit Trail Completion/Harbor Pathways: $1.5 million.
11. Restrooms, including downtown, Homer Spit and Spit Trail facilities: $1.55 million.
12. Pratt Museum Fuel Tank Replacement: $25,000.
13. East Boat Harbor. $20 million.
14. Fairview Avenue, Main Street to East Hill Road construction: $1.5 million.
15. Winter Sports Improvements, including Homer Hockey Association building and equipment and Ohlson Mountain Ski Area: $177,000.
The city will now use this list to apply for state or grant funding and lobby legislators.
In other business, the council also:
n Awarded an $86,082 contract for professional planning services to update the Comprehensive Plan to the firm of Agnew Beck of Anchorage.
n Passed a resolution supporting efforts to preserve and restore the Jesse Lee Home.
n Confirmed the appointment of council members Dennis Novak and Beth Wythe as well as Matthew North to the Permanent Fund Investment Committee.
n Postponed an ordinance to appropriate $20,000 for maintenance and repairs of the Ocean Drive Loop seawall.
n Passed a resolution in support of the Homer Senior Housing Project and urging the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation to grant and loan the Homer Senior Citizens the funds for the project.
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