Underground utility hearing set for Tuesday
The Paradise Town Council looks to have a busy schedule when it meets at 6 p.m. Tuesday at the Town Council Chambers at 5555 Skyway.
The council will not only address a resolution banning needles and syringe exchange in the town limits, but it will also host a hearing on undergrounding utilities within the town.
The town hopes to force all of the utility companies to work together on undergrounding all of the utilities.
PG&E’s PaulMoreno says that his company is more than willing to work with all parties.
“Because we are already committed to doing the underground, this offer is at a significantly lower cost than traditional joint- trenching efforts since we are doing the bulk of the trenching and the other utilities would just need to cover the cost of installing their conduit and some addedminor trenching to accommodate their equipment,” he said. “We continue to welcome them to join us.”
The town’s position is rooted in the fact that during the 2018 Camp Fire, evacuation corridors in Paradise were affected or blocked by burned wooden utility poles carrying electric and telecommunication lines which had fallen into the roadway, creating extremely hazardous and precarious situations for the evacuating general public, as well as first responders in their attempt to assist with evacuations, firefighting and saving lives and property.
Following the fire, utility companies installed temporary poles to serve customers with standing homes and business.
But PG&E’s Aaron Johnson announced inMay 2019 that it would begin an unprecedented project of undergrounding all- electric distribution infrastructure in Paradise.
The town said the intention is to reduce wildfire risk andmeet the community’s desire for unobstructed roads.
The expectation at the timewas that Comcast and AT& T would also underground their infrastructure.
However, the parties haven’t agreed to do so and in October 2019, the council adopted and enacted a “Dig- Once” policy, which states that the Town of Paradise and servicing utility companies must continuously communicate and coordinate relating to underground joint-trench opportunities. But it did not mandate any utility company to join underground trenches against their desires.
According to the agenda, PG& E has completed over 28miles of undergrounding work in Paradise and plans an additional 20 miles to be installed by the end of 2020.
The town says that Comcast and AT&T have not installed any infrastructure in any of these trenches and have told the town they have no intention to do so in the future.
Staff then looked at two ways that could encourage or cause these companies to help the town fully realize its safety objectives.
One the town says is an Underground Utility District, which would not include all roadways But it does allow the framework of the established legal Rule 20A program to be utilized and create a mandate for telecommunications providers to participate inthejoint trench on critical roadways at their own cost — even if PG&E was using traditional Rule 20A tariff apportionments for their respective work.
The townwas set to host a hearing in July on the district but California Public Utilities Commission staff recommended that the town delay the hearing because it wouldn’t get the results it wanted.
Instead, the town was encouraged to file a formal CPUC complaint process in hopes to engage all stakeholders.
On July 14 the council directed staff to submit a complaint to the CPUC relating to the lack of participation by Comcast andAT&Tin undergrounding overhead infrastructure and gave Comcast, AT&T and PG&E 45 days to agree to underground all utilities, if not, a public hearing wouldbesetonthe formation of the district.
The Underground District 20-1 is as follows:
Paradise arterials and collectors: Skyway, Clark Road, Pentz Road, Wagstaff Road, Bille Road, Elliott Road, Pearson Road, Neal Road, Buschmann Road, South Libby Road, Oliver Road, Valley View Drive, Central ParkDrive, Dean Road, Merrill Road, and portions of Maxwell Drive, Honey Run Road, Stearns Road, Roe Road, Foster Road, Elliott Road and Sawmill Road.
Brooks, Bernstein
The Paradise Town Council will get several updates at 6 p.m. Tuesday when it meets. The council will get information on housing grants availability from Rebuild Paradise Foundation’s Charles Brooks. There will be a COVID-19 update from Butte CountyHealth Officer Dr. Robert Bernstein.
Camp Fire recovery
• A hazard tree removal programs — Housing study and broadband update from Disaster Recovery Director Katie Simmons
• Wastewater Disposal System— Road Projects Update from Town Engineer/Public Works Director Marc Mattox
• Code Enforcement — Community Development Update from Community Development Director Susan Hartman
• Business update — Assistant to the Town Manager Colette Curtis