PROJECT NO. CIP 97-182 MYRTLE AVENUE UNDERGROUNDING AND
PROJECT NO. CIP 97-183 LOMA DRIVE UNDERGROUNDING –
STATUS REPORT

 

Recommendation:

It is recommended that the City Council receive and file this report.

 

Summary:

This report covers the progress made to date in the two utility undergrounding districts.

Edison has converted the property owners’ overhead power lines to underground for the entire Myrtle District. Verizon has removed each of the poles situated within the district along Hermosa Avenue. Staff has coordinated the current Edison and Verizon work schedules so that all poles will be removed within the district by the end of July. For two weeks in June, Edison’s crew was not working due to unanticipated scheduling problems. The crew is currently removing all the remaining components from the poles in the district with the exception of the poles on Myrtle and Silverstrand Avenues. Those poles have already been stripped of the components.

Edison will begin installing primary wires in the Loma District on July 16. They have, however, installed three new streetlights within the district (the corner of 6th Street and Loma Drive, the corner of Sunset Drive and Pier Avenue, and the corner of 11th Street and Loma Drive). Based on the latest Edison work schedule, the property owners’ crossover will be completed by the end of September 2001.

Verizon will also begin their work in the Loma District on July 16. Their materials will be in the City Yard by July 9 and their work order for the Loma District has been finalized. The pole removal process in both districts will begin after all overhead electric, telephone, and cable TV lines have been completely removed.

 

Work Completed :

The substructure installation of ducts for electricity, telephone and cable has been completed per the original design plans. The placement of vaults, pull boxes, hand-holes and laterals to residents, as indicated in the initially drawn plans, has also been completed. Pavement repairs, striping, and final clean up of the reconstructed areas within the districts have been completed as well. The City has accepted the work done by Irish Construction Company for both projects. The property owners’ conversion punch list for the Loma District has been finalized.

Staff sent non-compliance notices on June 12th to 18 property owners in the Loma District via certified mail with return receipts requested in order to inform 14 of them of their conversion deficiencies and to give 4 property owners one last opportunity to complete their conversions. The final deadline for all 18 property owners was set for June 29.

The property owners’ power services have been 100% switched underground in the Myrtle District. Poles along Hermosa Avenue have been removed and the sidewalk areas around them have been rebuilt. Three streetlights have been installed in each district.

 

Work in Progress:

As the work in the Myrtle District draws to a close, Staff is now concentrating on the Loma District to bring it to 100% compliant before either Edison or Verizon begin their work. Of the 18 property owners to whom Staff mailed the "noncompliance notices", 8 have contacted the City to resolve their outstanding problems. One has already fixed the problem and two have stated that their buildings will be demolished soon. Staff, however is finalizing the assessment on all the properties marked as non-compliant by Edison and City inspectors. These properties will then be done by the least expensive bidder selected based on the previously approved City Council resolution. Verizon is working toward completion of their work in the Myrtle District and they are officially the party responsible for pole removal by the end of July. Edison will then install the remaining permanent lights within the district.

 

Work Remaining:

Of the four property owners in Loma District who have not done any work at their properties, two have stated from the beginning that their buildings at 701 Loma Drive and at 1214-1216 Monterey Boulevard (1217 Sunset) will be rebuilt. The property owner at 745 Loma Drive has never responded to any of the City’s correspondence and the one at 814 Monterey has just authorized the City to let a previously selected electrician complete the work on her property using CDBG financial assistance funds. Among the property owners with conversion deficiencies, one at 1322 Sunset has already fixed the problem with and Staff is considering the remaining 13 as "noncompliant". Edison will begin their primary wiring work in the Loma District on July 16th.  Verizon is expected to begin work in the Loma District at the same time as Edison. Cable has already been undergrounded in the Myrtle District; Adelphia has to yet finalize their work schedule in the Loma District.

 

Conclusions:

Staff has utilized all available resources to complete both projects concurrently. While substructure work for both districts was finished in less than a year, the slow process associated with property owners’ conversions and the required 90% completion rates for both Edison and Verizon slowed progress afterwards. Furthermore, because the noted utility companies were each able to assign only a single crew the districts, the Myrtle District was completed before the Loma District, even though both districts had 90% completion rates at about the same time. But, since the Loma District is limited to two long straight streets of Loma and Sunset and only the small areas of the four cross streets - 6th, 8th, 10th, and 11th Streets, it is expected that the Loma District will be completed at a much faster pace than the Myrtle District.

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