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800-POUND GORILLA IN BAYCLIFFE NEIGHBORHOOD STILL MONKEYING AROUND WITH HUGE UTILITY BOX The very large utility box located within a utility easement at Maple Ridge Lane has been more than a headache for residents Don and Lynn Solie since it was installed last fall while they were out of town, without their prior knowledge. On February 23rd Mr. Solie reported that he and his wife talked to several real estate agents and all of them agreed that the utility box, as placed at their property, was a detriment to them. “It has a major effect on the value of our property,” said Mr. Solie. “It’s a mess. It’s a terrible situation. We’ve been here 25 years and we’d like to be here longer. Based on the research, we believe the city should do something about it and get it off our property.” Staff did not recommend leaving the box in its currently location. A second option is to move it to Solie’s west lot line, at a cost of $8,900, which would affect another property owner at Baycliffe. “We’ve been neighbors for 24 years with those people. We can’t do that,” said Mr. Solie. A third option is to completely remove the box to a location 600 feet down the way. This option is the most costly at $13,000. Xcel Energy has said it would contribute $2,500 toward relocating the box with either of the latter two options. Said City Administrator Don Uram, “We’ve had numerous meetings with Xcel. Our recommendation is Option 2. That size of the box is new to us. If we would have known the size of the box, we would have located it at the western property line. The box needs to be that size to handle the equipment. There will be another case in Victoria for a box that size. We are smarter than we were two months ago. I’m convinced the right of way permits being issued will certainly be under more scrutiny.” Asked Councilmember Kim Roden, “How do you argue that it’s not a taking of a resident’s value or property itself?” Replied City Attorney Mike Norton, “For the most part, it’s up to the utilities to determine what’s required. I don’t want folks to be misled that we’ll be able to take care of every situation. It’s not clear exactly what we’ll be able to do in the future.” Asked Councilmember Jim Paulsen, “Do I understand that you’re saying there are basically utility easements that people can end up fighting?” “Yes,” replied Attorney Norton. Administrator Uram said that cost for relocating the utility box would come out of the city’s contingency fund. “I’m concerned,” said Councilmember Kim Roden. “By moving the box aren’t we just going to be making the other neighbors mad? They could say thank you, Solies, for the 800-pound gorilla. I’d like to see what TKDA might do to help with this. We pay good engineering fees. It seems to me that we’d be creating more problems [with Option 2]. Stated the city administrator, “I don’t see this as a TKDA issue. We [the city] would have incurred that cost at the time of initial installation.” “Have you talked to the other neighbors?” asked Councilmember Roden. “We haven’t been able to reach them,” he replied. “I’m not comfortable with this,” repeated Councilmember Roden. *** Mr. Solie reminded everyone that his neighborhood had overhead lines prior to the street project, and that the plan was for those lines to remain. If they would have remained in place, he explained, the 800-pound gorilla would not have been necessary. “The burying of the lines came at a cost of $11,000,” he said. “The city agreed to pay extra money to bury this cable. It’s a mess. It’s a terrible situation. We’d write the check for the $4,100 difference. Do we have the $4,100? No, but we’d do it.”
Click here to read more about the Gorilla.
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