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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd. 1509-2016 ORDINANCE NO. 1509-2016 CITY COUNCIL, CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA AN ORDINANCE MAKING REVISIONS TO CHAPTER 13.16 OF THE SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO MUNICIPAL CODE AND ESTABLISHING AN UNDERGROUND UTILITY DISTRICT ALONG SPRUCE AVENUE FROM RAILROAD AVENUE TO THE NORTH EDGE OF SPRUCE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL BETWEEN LUX AVENUE AND PARK WAY (CIP PROJECT ST1204). WHEREAS, the California Public Utilities Commission ("CPUC") has authorized electric and telecommunication utilities to convert overhead utility lines and facilities to underground facilities pursuant to Electric Rule 20 and Telecommunication Rule 32; and WHEREAS, pursuant to certain criteria, CPUC rules allow participating cities and counties to adopt legislation authorizing the creation of underground utility districts within which existing overhead electric distribution and telecommunication distribution and service facilities will be converted to underground facilities; and WHEREAS, Chapter 13.16 of the City of South San Francisco ("City") Municipal Code authorizes the City Council, after public hearing, to designate areas within which all existing overhead poles, overhead wires and overhead equipment associated with the distribution of electric power, telecommunication services, cable television, and similar services, should be removed and replaced with underground wires and facilities; and WHEREAS, the Fiscal Year 2015-2016 Capital Improvement Program Project No. st1204 calls for converting the overhead utility lines and facilities on Spruce Avenue to underground facilities; and WHEREAS, each year, Pacific Gas & Electric ("PG&E") notifies the City of the annual allocation and balance of accumulated work credits and the five-year balance of future credits that may be borrowed for conversion of overhead electric distribution lines and facilities to underground facilities,pursuant to CPUC Rule 20A; and WHEREAS, the City desires to establish a Spruce Avenue Underground Utility District ("District"), extending from the north side of Railroad Avenue to the north edge of the Spruce Elementary School, between Lux Avenue and Park Way, more particularly described in Exhibit 1, attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference; and WHEREAS, PG&E has notified the City that the City has accumulated work credits in the amount of $6,173,446.00 and may borrow future work credits in the amount of $1,018,680.00, yielding a total of$7,192,126.00 in work credits that may be used for qualified underground utility conversion projects pursuant to CPUC Rule 20A and such credits are sufficient to complete the desired underground utility conversion project along Spruce Avenue; and - 1 - WHEREAS, upon determining that undergrounding of utilities is required by public necessity, health, safety, or welfare, the City shall establish an underground utility district containing all of the parcels within the district, as identified on a district boundary map, so that the City may expend the accumulated Rule 20A work credits to fund the utility conversion; and WHEREAS, the City and the affected utilities have consulted and agreed that each utility shall complete the engineering of their respective portion of the Spruce Avenue Underground Utility District project; and WHEREAS, the City and the affected utilities have consulted and agreed that the City shall be responsible for preparation of the trench profile and composite drawings, and that the City shall be designated as "lead agent," also known as "trenching agent," to manage trenching, installation of substructures, pavement restoration, and such other trench-related work; and WHEREAS, the City and the affected utilities have agreed to a work schedule which meets their respective capabilities and the City has further agreed to waive any administrative fees, costs, or special street restoration requirements for the purposes of this project; and WHEREAS, the City notified all affected property owners within the proposed District and invited same to attend a public hearing to discuss formation of the proposed District; and WHEREAS, the City Council has received the staff report recommending that the area identified in Exhibit 1 should be designated as an underground utility district within which all existing overhead poles, overhead wires, and overhead equipment associated with the distribution of electric power, telecommunication services, cable television, and similar services should be removed and replaced with underground wires and facilities; and WHEREAS, a public hearing was duly opened on November 18, 2015 at South San Francisco City Hall and was continued to January 27, 2016 in the Council Chambers of the City of South San Francisco, and a community meeting was held on January 6, 2016 at the Magnolia Center, at which time all interested persons were given an opportunity to be heard, and the City Council did consider any and all objections or protests that were raised by the owners of property within the proposed District, pertaining to designating this area an underground utility district; and WHEREAS, the City Council has determined that, pursuant to Section 13.16.030 of the South San Francisco Municipal Code, the public necessity, health, safety, and welfare requires the removal of overhead wires and overhead structures from Spruce Avenue, between Railroad Avenue and the north edge of the Spruce Elementary School, between Lux Avenue and Park Way, and underground installation of said wires and facilities; and WHEREAS, the City has consulted with the affected utilities and such utilities have agreed that the proposed underground conversion district, designated the Spruce Avenue Underground Utility District, as described in Exhibit 1, meets one or more of the four qualifying criteria established by the CPUC for Rule 20A projects, to wit, (1) That Spruce Avenue is extensively used by the general public and carries a heavy volume of pedestrian and vehicular traffic; and - 2 - (2) That Spruce Avenue adjoins a civic area; and (3) That Spruce Avenue is considered an arterial street as defined in the Governor's Office of Planning and Research General Plan Guidelines; and WHEREAS, the City Council acknowledges that wheelchair access is in the public interest and has been considered as a basis for defining the boundaries of the proposed District; and WHEREAS, upon the recommendation of staff, the City Council has determined that the proposed Spruce Avenue Underground Utility District is categorically exempt from environmental review pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act; and NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of South San Francisco does hereby ORDAIN as follows: SECTION 1. Findings The City Council of the City of South San Francisco ("City") finds that the public necessity and safety requires the removal of all existing utility poles, (excepting those poles supporting streetlights and traffic signals), overhead utility wires, and associated overhead structures, and the installation of underground wires and facilities for supplying electric power, communication, or similar associated services within the areas as shown in Exhibit 1, attached hereto, running along Spruce Avenue from Railroad Avenue to the north edge of Spruce Elementary School, with such area being designated as the Spruce Avenue Underground Utility District. SECTION 2. Amendments to South San Francisco Municipal Code Chapter 13.16 The City Council hereby amends the following sections of the South San Francisco Municipal Code to read as follows. Sections and subsections that are not amended by this Ordinance are not included below, and shall remain in full force and effect. A. Revise South San Francisco Municipal Code Section 13.16.070 to read as follows: 13.16.070 Notice to property owners and utility companies. A. Within ten days after passage of an ordinance pursuant to Section 13.16.030, the city clerk shall notify all affected utilities and all persons owning real property within the area designated in the ordinance of the adoption thereof. The city clerk shall further notify such affected property owners of the necessity that, if they or any person occupying such property desire to continue to receive electric, communication or other similar or associated service, they shall execute Right of Entry agreements with the City to allow the City and its contractors, and the utility companies and their contractors, permission to work on the property for the purposes - 3 - of inspection of the electric service panel, construction of the underground service laterals, conversion of the electric panel, and reconnection of all utility services as necessary so as to allow the property to receive such service from the lines of the supplying utility or utilities at a new location, subject to applicable rules, regulations and tariffs of the respective utility or utilities on file with the Commission. B. Notification by the city clerk shall be made by mailing a copy of the ordinance adopted pursuant to Section 13.16.030, together with a copy of the ordinance codified herein, to the affected utilities and to affected property owners as such are shown on the last equalized assessment roll of the county of San Mateo. B. Revise South San Francisco Municipal Code Section 13.16.090 to read as follows: 13.16.090 Responsibility of property owner—Right of Entry. Upon receipt of a request for Right of Entry on a form provided by the City, the property owner shall execute and return the Right of Entry to the City within ten days, thereby granting permission to the City and its contractors and the Utilities and their contractors to enter the property to complete all inspection and construction necessary to receive underground utility services, subject to applicable rules, regulations and tariffs of the respective utility or utilities on file with the Commission. The property owner shall own the newly installed underground service laterals and converted service panels. C. Revise South San Francisco Municipal Code to add Section 13.16.095 as follows: 13.16.095 Responsibility of property owner—Electric Service Panel. If City inspection identifies deficiencies in the electric service panel that render it unsafe to be reconnected, the City shall give the property owner notice as described in Section 13.16.110 that the property owner shall obtain a City permit and shall correct the identified deficiencies within forty five days. D. Revise South San Francisco Municipal Code Section 13.16.110 to read as follows: 13.16.110 Notice—Contents. The notice given pursuant to Section 13.16.095 shall particularly specify what deficiencies are required to be done by the property owner, and shall state that if the property owner does not complete the work to correct the deficiencies within forty-five days after receipt of such notice, the City will correct the electric panel deficiencies, in which case the cost and expense thereof will be assessed against the property benefited and become a lien upon such property. E. Revise South San Francisco Municipal Code Section 13.16.120 to read as follows: 13.16.120 Performance of work by city—Assessment. - 4 - If upon the expiration of the forty five day period specified in Section 13.16.110, the property owner has not completed the required corrections, the City shall forthwith proceed to do the work; provided, however, if such premises are unoccupied and no electric or communication services are being furnished thereto, the city engineer may, in lieu of providing the required underground facilities, order the disconnection of all existing connections used for furnishing electric and communication services to such premises. Upon completion of the work by the city engineer, he shall file a written report with the council setting forth the fact that the required underground facilities have been provided and the cost thereof, together with a legal description of the property against which such cost is to be assessed. The council shall thereupon fix a time and place for hearing protests against the assessment of the cost of such work upon such premises, which time shall be not less than ten days thereafter. SECTION 3. Undergrounding of Utilities in the District A. The affected utility companies, cable television services, and other affected services shall commence work on installation of underground facilities in the District and, as each phase of the project is complete and ready for conversion from overhead to underground utility facilities, all fronting property owners shall be notified by first class letter, postage pre- paid, of the schedule for conversion of all utility service lines. B. City hereby applies Rule 20A underground conversion allocation computed pursuant to decisions of the CPUC for the purpose of providing to each premises in the District requiring it a maximum of one hundred (100) feet of individual electric service trenching and conductor, as well as backfill, paving, and conduit, if required, and each other utility serving each property shall provide the funds to complete their service trenching and conductor in accordance with its rules and tariffs on file with the CPUC or as required by its Franchise Agreement with the City of South San Francisco. C. PG&E shall use said underground conversion allowance allocation to manage the conversion of the electric service panels in the District, up to a maximum amount of$1,500.00 per service entrance, excluding permit fees. The City shall request that PG&E manage the conversion of electric service panels in the District to accept underground service in accordance with the option made available by PG&E in its "Agreement to Perform Tariff Schedule Related Work - Rule 20A Electric Panel Service Conversion" (Form 79-1113) and use Rule 20A credits for any remaining expense. Each property owner shall be responsible for maintenance of the conduit and termination box located on, under, or within any structure on the premises served. D. Property owners within the District affected by the undergrounding project shall additionally be responsible for executing Right of Entry agreements with the City that allow the City, PG&E and their contractor access to inspect the electric panel and connect the premises to the new underground electrical facilities. Property owners are responsible for correcting any existing violations of the City's electrical code identified by the City with regard to their electrical panel. E. Once all services have been converted from overhead to underground, the utility companies, telecommunication companies, cable television services, and other affected services shall remove all poles (except as specified above) and associated overhead facilities in the District. - 5 - F. The date by which affected property owners within the District must have installed on their premises all electrical facility changes necessary to receive service from the underground facilities of the utilities, and the order to remove all poles, overhead wires, and associated overhead structures, shall be established by a schedule determined at the time a bid is awarded for construction of the project, as required by a phasing plan. G. Once all services have been converted from overhead to underground and all related above-ground structures have been removed within the District, it shall be unlawful for any person to erect, construct, place, keep, maintain, continue, employ or operate any pole, overhead wire or associated overhead structure in any public street, alley or way within the District,pursuant to Section 13.16.040 of the South San Francisco Municipal Code. SECTION 4. Severability If any provision of this Ordinance or the application thereof to any person or circumstance is held invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder of this Ordinance, including the application of such part or provision to other persons or circumstances, shall not be affected thereby and shall continue in full force and effect. To this end, provisions of this Ordinance are severable. The City Council of the City of South San Francisco hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase hereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases be held unconstitutional, invalid, or unenforceable. SECTION 5. Publication and Effective Date Pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Section 36933, a summary of this Ordinance shall be prepared by the City Attorney. At least five (5) days prior to the Council meeting at which this Ordinance is scheduled to be adopted, the City Clerk shall (1) publish the Summary, and (2) post in the City Clerk's Office a certified copy of this Ordinance. Within fifteen (15) days after the adoption of this Ordinance, the City Clerk shall (1) publish the summary, and (2) post in the City Clerk's Office a certified copy of the full text of this Ordinance along with the names of those City Council members voting for and against this Ordinance or otherwise voting. This Ordinance shall become effective thirty (30) days from and after its adoption. * * * * * - 6 - Introduced at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of South San Francisco held the 27th day of January, 2016. Adopted as an Ordinance of the City of South San Francisco at a regular meeting of the City Council held the 10th day of February, 2016,by the following vote: AYES: Councilmembers Karyl Matsumoto, Richard A. Garbarino, and Liza Normandy Vice Mayor Pradeep Gupta and Mayor Mark N. Addiego NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None ATT T: \ a M i, ity Clerk As Mayor of the City of South San Francisco, I do hereby approve the foregoing ordinance this 10th day of February, 2016. ark Addiego, May. - 7 -