Ross neighborhood group aims to bury utility lines

Residents in a section of Ross are one step closer to undergrounding their utility lines.

The Town Council unanimously approved the creation of a town-managed account to form a new utility undergrounding assessment district at its meeting on Thursday. Councilmember Mathew Salter was absent.

A group of residents of Upper Road, Woodhaven Road and Upper Road West has been working to form the special assessment district so it can bury the area’s utility wires and poles.

“They approached me in April and they are very interested in doing it,” Public Works Director Richard Simonitch said. “They are following the steps of the policy very closely.”

Proponents say undergrounding utility lines reduces risks during fires, earthquakes and storms and is more cost-effective because less maintenance is required. In 2020, the town formed a utility undergrounding district in the upper west area. The new district would be to the west of the other one.

A committee of residents attempted to hire an assessment district engineering firm to do the preliminary work for the proposed utility district, but the firm said they it only contract directly with the town.

“Following the philosophy of our policy, yes, we can contract with this engineer but we would need the neighborhood group to contribute the money that would pay for this consultant,” Simonitch said.

In order to move past the exploratory phase of the project, and move toward putting together a petition, the committee asked the Town Council to create an escrow account. Residents within the proposed boundary would be able to contribute funds to cover the consultant. The estimated costs of the consultant, which will be completely covered by the property owners, will be around $7,000, according to a staff report.

The separate account will keep and track residents’ receipts and expenses related to the formation of the new district. Gina Nellesen, one of the residents in the proposed district, said the town-managed account would help residents stay informed as the committee raises funds.

“I have found that these engineering companies don’t want to work directly with us and given the amount of money that needs to be raised, at least initially, $100,000 maybe plus, this account would promote transparency,” Nellesen said. “Most donors want to write a check to the town of Ross for the benefit of the district, not to me.”

The engineer will create a draft assessment district boundary, estimates on design and construction costs, and approximate assessments of individual parcels. Once these documents are done, the committee can circulate a petition to property owners. The committee needs 65% of property owners to support the district for it to move forward.

Simonitch said some conditions include requiring contributors to own a parcel within the proposed district and pay the full deposit before the town can hire the consultant. If the assessment district does not form, unspent deposits would be returned to contributors.

Councilmember Elizabeth Robbins asked Simonitch to track his time, as well as any other staff hours, and put it toward the cost of the district.

“It seems like there should be some consideration for the staff time,” Robbins said.