196-2001 LTC
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CITY OF MIAMI BEACH ~
Office of the City Manager ~
Letter to Commission No, I ~fJJ -;}COI _
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To:
From:
Honorable Mayor Neisen O. Kasdin and Date: August 29. 2001
Members of the City Commission
Jorge M. Gonzalez ~ . /
City Manager .Y' ~
STATUS REPOR ON UNDERGROUNDING OF UTILITIES IN
RESIDENTIAL NEIGHBORHOODS
Subject:
The City Commission requested to be updated on the progress of events associated with
the undergrounding of electric utilities in interested residential neighborhoods.
Based on the progress that has been achieved by the Palm, Star and Hibiscus Islands
residents, proceeding with these specific islands and capitalizing on their investment of
time and energy is recommended to be a more feasible approach to studying underground
utilities rather than dealing with a wider range of residential communities that have not
progressed as far. By using Palm, Star and Hibiscus Islands as a test or prototype for
undergrounding of utilities, the City and other interested residential neighborhoods can
take advantage of the time and energy invested by Palm, Star and Hibiscus to define a
process and to identify and resolve issues that can be used as a model in other areas.
Certainly other residential areas anticipating undergrounding of utilities may need to have
such a model or procedure adjusted to reflect specific conditions in a neighborhood;
however, it is important to establish a baseline and to resolve key issues using a real
example that limits variables and unknowns.
The issues attendant to underground of electric utilities generally fall into three categories.
These categories are:
1, Community Support
2, Financial
3. Legal
To measure and to report to the Commission community support and understanding of the
project, staff has met with the Executive Director of the Palm, Star and Hibiscus
Association to discuss addressing the homeowners and Board of Directors at a meeting
on September 6th. At this meeting, it will be further discussed whether a discussion on the
underground of utilities can be worked into the agenda for the Palm, Star and Hibiscus
general meeting for neighborhood improvements under the G.O. Bond Project to be
conducted by the architect and engineer for this area in late September. In this or a future
meeting scheduled with the community, it will be possible to review the nature of the
project, what it will mean to and how it will affect the individual property owners, the range
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-- of costs associated with the project, and what to expect for connection to an underground
system and the time over which such connections might occur. While this is generally
important information for the Commission on any Capital Project, it is particularly important
on the Palm, Star and Hibiscus communities inasmuch as their Homeowners Association
is a voluntary one and not all of the island residents participate or have been afforded an
opportunity to discuss the undergrounding of utilities which would affect every resident, not
just Homeowner Association participants.
On the question of financial issues, the Homeowners Association has continued to meet
with representatives of the banking community and the staff plans to coordinate with the
Homeowners Association on institutions contacted and specific financing requirements or
issues that have been raised by the banking community. This will enable the staff to focus
its efforts on methods in which the City might be helpful in perfecting a financing
mechanism for the Palm, Star and Hibiscus communities. One specific question, which
will be addressed, is whether the County can be utilized as the assessment collection
vehicle as part of the annualized tax bill and how that process is put into place.
On the legal questions, an opinion has been requested of the Attorney General by the City
Attorney on the question of completeness for the underground utility question. The
question of completeness is at what point in the project life it is possible for an assessment
to be levied and collected. This legal distinction will affect the financial community's
willingness to invest in this project and also will specifically affect the level of risk attendant
to different support mechanism the City may be able to offer to this and potentially other
interested residential areas.
As community discussions are formalized, the members of the Commission will be notified
so as to follow the progress on this specific case and potential prototype for other
interested communities. As more of the information briefly outlined in this Letter to
Commission is identified, it is anticipated that a more complete report together with results
from the community meeting can be presented to the Commission and a more specific plan
of action thereby developed.
JM~\Sam
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