I believe almost every property owner on Longboat Key is in favor of under-grounding our power lines. That unanimity begins to break down over who pays for what.
Under the town commission's project, everyone pays for GMD, no matter what cost/benefit is actually enjoyed by different property owners, in various parts of the island. For instance, how far away a land parcel lies from GMD. It seems logical that those properties directly on GMD will increase in property value from under-grounding the power lines.
One problem with the town's assessment formulation is that the Key Club Islandside only pays the same $2,476 that most every other property owner will pay. The Islandside property has 1.3 miles of frontage on GMD. I believe the approximate per mile cost for burying the power lines on GMD is $2,000,000. We all have to pay for the 1.3 miles of the Islandside property. I believe residents have a bonafide concern surrounding the taxing model published by the commission.
That the town commission refused to allow the residents to vote to pay to either bury power lines on just Gulf of Mexico Drive or throughout the entire community, has now divided the community and may well be the primary reason that voters reject the commission's funding plan.
At this point the commissioners have completely withdrawn any consideration of an island-wide under-grounding project. The commission has acknowledged that their assessment model for the neighborhoods is so faulty and unpopular that they chose to no longer consider an island-wide project. There is no assurance that the commission will reinstate an island-wide project even if their current referendum passes. Certainly there will be far fewer residents who are affected by overhead power lines once GMD is under-grounded, making further under-grounding efforts less likely.
If the commission's GMD referendum is approved, I cannot see an effective resident-based initiative to underground other neighborhoods being likely. The legal and political challenges are daunting and the cost of doing the island peace-meal can only translate into higher costs compared to a large island-wide project that will attract more contractors with more competitive bids.
I believe the voters would be better off rejecting the commission's GMD project and have the town formulate a better, more encompassing and cost effective under-grounding plan.
Commissioner Zunz has presented an alternative funding initiative that might be accepted by the voters for the same reasons that voters approved both the beach and canal management taxing formulas.
Finally, here is a link to a study on undergrounding siting advantages and disadvantages.
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