Overhead power lines on this section of Water Avenue are to be replaced with underground wiring as part of Albany’s Waterfront Project.
Albany’s Waterfront Project calls for power lines on three blocks of Water Avenue to be placed underground, and all Pacific Power customers within the city will be charged for the expense.
Pacific Power estimates the undergrounding will cost just under $2.4 million. According to an agreement with the city, the utility intends to collect the actual cost, plus interest of 5.1 percent, as a percentage of each ratepayer’s monthly service bill over two years.
Matthew Ruettgers, Albany’s community development director, referred my question about the percentage to Pacific Power. I’ve left messages for the utility’s local representative, hoping to get that information.
The agreement between the City of Albany and PacifiCorp, the utility’s parent company, goes to the city council at a work session Monday. It is scheduled for adoption Wednesday.
Utility lines are to be placed under ground from Washington Street to the Ellsworth Street Bridge so that section of Water Avenue can be rebuilt as a “plaza street” that can be used for events.
A memo included in the council’s Monday agenda says:
“During the design development of the Water Avenue Corridor, it was determined that undergrounding franchise utilities would be necessary within the Plaza Street section to construct an accessible, pedestrian and event-centric street consistent with the design goals of the Waterfront Project. Key economic development benefits also result; critically, this removes major barriers to the development of private property south of Water Avenue.”
Most of the Waterfront Project is being financed by CARA, the central Albany urban renewal district. When the council talked about the costs, no one mentioned that the plaza street element of the overall plan would result in higher Albany electric bills.
Pacific Power’s Albany franchise says the utility must pay the cost of any undergrounding but may recover the expense from ratepayers. Ruettgers said in an email that Pacific could have recovered the cost over just one year but the city negotiated a payback period of two years.
The proposed surcharge on electric bills will need approval of the Public Utility Commission.
Including the more than $3 million CARA paid for design, the Waterfront Project so far is costing about $22,952,000. That’s based on a table of expenses presented to the council last September.
The project included rebuilding Monteith Riverpark, providing better railroad crossings and new riverside plantings along parts of the Dave Clark Path, and redoing sections of Water Avenue.
Assuming the actual cost of the undergrounding to be at least $2 million, the total cost of the project jumps to nearly $25 million.
On Thursday night, I stopped the bike on Water Avenue for a photo. Those power poles you see there are going to disappear. (hh)
How about no? The taxpaying citizens of Albany never asked for the Front street improvement project!
Citizens elect representatives to vote. If you don’t like how your representative voted contact them.
No Dennis. I didn’t give you my credit card. If you want to spend my money, why not ask me if it’s OK FIRST?
You cast your ballot each election over the *many* years the URD has been around. If you don’t like the results (which gave the authority to make those decisions on “your” behalf), garner more support for your viewpoints…
Yes Ray, as you have stated numerous times. My point is having the “power” and using the power without public of notification generated 50 responses for a reason.
Some years ago Hasso wrote, albeit on a different topic:
“Sometimes it seems that the sensible and noble idea of self-government through representative democracy is breaking down everywhere we look.”
Seems applicable here.
Albany’s elected officials appear to be out of touch and disconnected from the lives of ordinary residents. The very people they represent.
The breakdown, as Hasso called it, continues….
Nope, sorry libertarian.
No specifics were included in HH posting just a general statement about consumers absorbing the bill.
But that doesn’t matter to Mr. G who has never and will never support government in any way for any reason.
Sorry libertarian, I’m pleased the council discounts your negative view on our system of government.
The same old, same old. Get some new material, Gordon.
The more stuff like this takes place, the more i wish id never moved here.
I’m so over this. Yes, it’s beautiful but the citizens of Albany can only afford so much. It sounds like our city government dropped the ball by not asking the appropriate questions about how Pacific Power intended to recoup the cost of moving the lines underground. Did they really think Pacific Power would just absorb the costs? I suppose I should be thankful that Ruettgers so thoughtfully negotiated a two year payback instead of one. Now, if my income would increase by 5.1%.
The percentage is not the increase but the interest rate PP&L intends to apply to the amount it has to advance before recovering it.
I don’t recall being asked if I wanted to contribute to this. The answer is “NO”. This is nothing we need at the moment. If they want to put something underground they need to assume the cost and not dump it on the taxpayers. There is no need for this!
This project is costing every person in Albany just under $450. When did we get to vote on this? My budget makes me decide if something is cost effective. When using other people’s money there seems to be no limit on cost.
How much can I expect my monthly payment to increase?
No answer yet from Pacific.
And you can bet that the increase won’t be reduced once the cost is collected.
I think gasoline is about the only thing that actually goes down in cost (sometimes).
Hmmm… looking at my bill: “Public Purpose TAX, “Low Income Assistance TAX,” Albany City Franchise “FEE” and now this??? And it will be done over 2 years??? And our roads are still crap! I don’t really feel like our tax dollars are being spent wisely these days. I want to see a city budget!
City Finances:
https://www.albanyoregon.gov/finance
Sounds like taxation without approval. Time to vote some spenders out. Probably not even legal. Yes, I am mad.
I say a big NO to this! My Pacific Power bills are already too much, it is almost 300.00 and I don’t live in a huge house. This should have been brought to the community for vote.
We need to take care of other parts of Albany too, not just downtown.
Sad that the roads through Albany are bad and need to have potholes fixed or resurfaced, that can’t even be taken care of. I know “We hear you”!
Je*us H. Crap!! City forgot (b.s., they didn’t want to tell us) that every PP&L Customer in Albany has to pony up more money for that *#@!!&!! waterfront! To answer those who ask if the people voted on this: No, they did not.
The Council formed CARA, which is the urban renewal district that skimmed money off property taxes, with just a vote of the Council. Oh, the city can no longer form urban renewal districts without a vote of the people, though, and they want to form more of them. So, keep an eye out for a ballot that asks you to approve an “urban renewal district, and vote NO!
I think the Council will eventually tear down the Community/Sr. Center. CARA gave the Sr. Center only 2 handicap parking spaces in the new “cement” circle area. I understand the Community/Sr. Center was told they would get 4 regular parking spots, too. They didn’t.
When is the Council’s favorite contractor (Lehman) going to redo his warehouse which is full of broken windows? It is an eyesore right in front of the new Kiddie Park.
And I think the gal who commented and asked Hasso if the cement circle is a heli-pad is right on. A helicopter could land there and bring in someone of Taylor Swift’s caliber (they wish!!).
Lepman plans to tear down the warehouse and build a hotel on this site, providing the taxpayer pays for an expensive parking structure. ” the End is NOT near.”
I thnk they should replace the ugly buildings under the power poles and leave the poles as nobody walks with their head looking at the sky! Maybe Coach K is the exception as he usually has his head in the sky.
Considering the progress Albany has made over the past 20 years via the URD, you’re 100% correct! I do love Albany and see more improvements happening down the road!
I think you mean more wasted money on projects that only the council wants.
What we are going to pay to bury those power lines is equivalent to about 5 percent of the total property taxes that are going to be diverted to CARA before it is all said and done.
If Obie Enterprises of Eugene is truly on board for bringing Downtown up to speed with a hotel and other amenities (See 5th Street Alley in Eugene) perhaps he can pick up some of this bill to relieve the Albany taxpayers.
Who’s idea was the “Water Front” project? Was it an individual, a comity, or what? Someone had to present this idea and someone should have asked WHY?
With the train tracks going through there, and the building in your picture, just getting rid of the power poles is not going to make this area beautiful.
I agree, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear
The original Monteith Park was beautiful, but the Council/CARA chopped down the trees and put in concrete and a kiddie playground and painted some 1960s era flowers on the bathroom wall, and it is now ugly. And now they tell us underground utilities will make it attractive. What in the heck! They have already done away with beauty.
Tell that to the *thousands* of folks who have visited/used/enjoyed the park since it re-opened July 4th….
Good thing you put quote marks around “thousands” of people. Makes us notice your guesstimate. I have been to the park once and have driven by a couple of times. Only saw a sprinkling of about 10 people, including kiddies, each time.
I did not use ” marks. Huge difference!
Is Albany going to build a tunnel for the train
Someone above mentioned it will cost $450 per resident for this new project over the 2 year span. That’s $18.75 per month. Is that how much our electric bills will be going up in the form of a fee? Which medicine or food do I have to forgo this time in order to keep my power bill going? I live on a small social security check as my only income. $18.75 is actually a chunk of change for me that I cannot afford to be giving away for a product/project that I cannot use. Gentrification only seems to truly benefit those with big pocketbooks.
Pay no attention to that previous comment about an alleged $450 per resident. You get that number by dividing the $25 million cost of the entire Waterfront Project by roughly the number of Albany residents. But it’s a nonsensical number. The surcharge for the undergrounding is a different thing altogether. Assuming PP&L has about 20,000 accounts in Albany (I don’t know the actual number), you could divide the estimated $2.4 million undergrounding expense by that number and arrive at $120 per account or $5 per month for two years. But some electrical accounts are huge, and most residential ones are tiny by comparison. The surcharge will be the same percentage across all accounts. Chances are most households won’t notice the difference in their monthly bills.
Thank you for that bit of *common sense.*
Or at least that’s what the council is hoping.
Repeating my previous comment, will our billing go down once the cost is collected?
PacifiCorp is asking for a rate increase, so no, chances are your bill will never go down unless you keep the lights off.
How about we keep the rates as is and cancel the dig?
That park was not needed or wanted by most. The result is extremely ugly, especially with all the trees removed. There was already a YMCA pool, another community pool and many parks just blocks away. The whole thing was a waste of $ to begin with. Now we have to cover the expense of an 11-12% power increase as well. This town is becoming more and more of a disappointment.
In response to your “there’s already a YMCA pool and plenty of parks. ” I was on Council during most of the planning for the Waterfront and the main reason for the splash pad is to give those who cannot afford to belong to the YMCA, a place to take their kids without having to pay. Years ago there was a shallow pool at Takena Park that was enjoyed by a lot of families but had to be removed.
Monteith Park does look a lot different (change is hard) but all in all, it will serve the public well.
Taking advantage of our waterfront is what many cities have done and have greatly benefited from it. The saying goes “build it and they will come.” It is already happening and I’m sure more will follow.
It doesn’t make sense to remove a splash pad from one park then spend money to make another one in a different park. The cities attempts to please people who are not the bulk of the community are doing a disservice to those of us who enjoy a city that is run well. This city is in need of a good community of people who make living and working here every day better. Maintaining our streets, providing clean water, keeping the city from being a large homeless camp and giving struggling residents some help. That is what would make our city more enjoyable. Albany was named “city of trees” for a reason. The love of natural settings has been the main attraction of Albany. Now the mayor, city manager and city council has turned it into the “city of concrete”. It is nothing to be proud of.
A ton of comments on the bloggo post.
Will that translate into a ton of folks at the next several council meetings?
Be a nice start because this is outstandingly bad.
Prepare the overflow room?
Albany has been needing a BIG vision for a long long time. I hope this is it and executed well.
3 Blocks?!?! LOL.
That’s not BIG vision.
Just a HUGE gouge.
From the article… “Key economic development benefits also result; critically, this removes major barriers to the development of private property south of Water Avenue.”
Is it possible the private property owners spoken of here are the catalysts for this project? Are they chummy with city council/CARA? What a genius way to save on development costs! Charge the residents!
No worries. Hasso has now sort of reversed himself and said, “chances are most households won’t notice the difference in their monthly bills.” But that sentence of Hasso’s doesn’t say there won’t be “a difference.” It just says some people don’t carefully look at their bills.
So Pacific Power doesn’t budget for repairs and improvements? I have to save for upgrades in my budget. I think the point is being missed here, poor planning on their part shouldn’t…who am I kidding, we’ll get billed and we’ll pay it. Wanna bet in 2 years they don’t remove it?
Of course PP&L budgets for repairs and improvements. In this case, the city is requiring the utility to incur an expense that it would not incur on its own. This will be made clear to ratepayers. From the agreement between PacifiCorp and Albany: “Ratepayer Exaction. The Actual Conversion Costs plus accrued interest shall be collected by PacifiCorp from each Ratepayer during the Pay-Back Period in the form of a municipal exaction. The municipal exaction shall be a uniform percentage of each Ratepayer’s monthly service bill shown as a separate item. The exact percentage of the exaction shall be determined once the Actual Conversion Costs have been established.”
Ray K. The rules are when you place an asterisk at both the front and end of a word, it is to emphasize that word. It is used mostly in texting. And, quote marks at the front and end of a word also emphasize that word. Gawd! And, you assume someone would want to have lunch with you because you are a Councilor.
Multiple websites have this: “Asterisks can also be used to highlight a disclaimer or clarify existing text.”
You already know what I stated about the # of folks using the new & much improved park is 100% accurate!
The more this is on my mind, the more I would like the other city leaders to way in.
No hiding. We can see how Ray feels. All for it.
Time for the others to comment!
Let me get this straight, I will have to pay not only the new hike that Pacific power says it will be 24 extra bucks every month, but now I have to pay 50 bucks, For your park. For your waterfront. That most of us cannot visit BECAUSE WE WORK ALL THE TIME AND ARE TOO TIRED TO EVEN SEE IT.
Where does “50 bucks” come from?
I suspect the “50 bucks” is more of generic number being thrown out than specific. However this new fee, whatever it ends up being, will be in addition to the rate increases that PP already has approval for from the state commission and will be added again to cover increased costs for providing power due to inflation as well as fines for the fires of the past few years. So $50 may not be too far off for some people.
I want to apologize to Hasso and his blog readers: I’m sure you are sick of Ray K. and “Coffee.” But, I do want to say to Ray K. that emphasizing, clarifying, and highlighting are pretty much the same thing. I’ll sign off on this topic, now.
My question to this is… why did not the City of Albany put this in the budget for the CARA on this project. I believe most of CARA was funded by the Federal Government… Was this just an afterthought on the City Council wanting no electrical poles ? If so.. then it takes away from the historic part of it. Is this not part of the historic district where you need to keep some part if it historic ? Just curious…
CARA is supported by local property taxes. The federal government has no role in this program.
So, this project is going to cost us 5.1% from the City of Albany and Pacific Power is going to raise our rates by another 11.9%. How are we supposed to continue living here in Albany. What exactly is the purpose of “Plaza Street”. How does it benefit the people of Albany other than hiding piwer lines so it is esthetically pleasing. Quit spending people’s money that doesn’t benefit everyone. Time to put these projects on a ballot and let the people decide what they are willing to pay for and support.
Not everyone on the Council was “gung-ho” for the Waterfront project.
Councilor Dick Olsen and I were concerned about this enormous expenditure of CARA funds.
We voted no repeatedly, but were of course, outvoted by those who wanted to use this as a way to sunset the CARA district. (Whatever other reasons someone might have had in mind, I don’t know — but money usually figures in).
I was appalled at the cost of the plans alone — and Never did I once hear about $2.4 million for “undergrounding” — much less the fact that the people of Albany would be paying for this.
As I mentioned at the last meeting, Pacific Power is already raising rates by 11.9% (an average of $21.49/monthly). When you add in the $4.24 to cover this “undergrounding”, that’s now an increase of $25.73 on top of what we’re already paying each month —fees they’ve been raising every year…and which will likely not be coming down.
On top of all this, they want to charge an interest rate of 5.1%!
I questioned that as well, and was told it was because of the negotiation to pay over 2 years instead of in 1.
I am at a loss.