Laguna Beach City Council will discuss putting underground utilities issue on 2018 ballot

The Laguna Beach City Council on Tuesday could approve spending $242,000 on consultants to develop surveys and determine potential costs to residents of undergrounding remaining overhead utility poles and wires.

The city is considering placing one or two measures on the November 2018 ballot, but first wants to know if residents would support one or multiple public votes on undergrounding, and whether taxpayers would want to help foot the costs.

City staff members recommend paying up to $123,700 to TBWB Strategies and its subcontractor — Fairbank, Maslin, Maullin, Metz & Associates — to develop surveys and potential ballot measures, and up to $97,500 to David Taussig & Associates, a Newport Beach firm.

The latter firm would identify tax methods to raise funds for undergrounding overhead utilities in Laguna’s residential neighborhoods.

Council members will also consider earmarking $20,800 for unforeseen expenses.

Tuesday’s discussion will follow an October meeting in which Councilman Bob Whalen, a vocal undergrounding advocate, urged his council colleagues and the city to ramp up efforts to place utilities below ground.

Whalen referenced the October fires in Northern California that destroyed at least 8,400 houses and other structures, and the 1993 wildfire that ravaged Laguna, as evidence.

The council appointed Whalen and Councilman Robert Zur Schmiede to work with city staff on identifying funding opportunities.

A general obligation bond would pay for undergrounding along Laguna’s major evacuation routes, such as South Coast Highway, while a community facilities district would pay for undergrounding in neighborhoods that still have overhead power lines, according to a city staff report.

Residents in the neighborhoods would help fund undergrounding in those areas, while property owners throughout the city would help fund undergrounding along the evacuation routes, the report said.

Laguna has a patchwork of areas where residents have paid assessments to place overhead utilities below ground.

The council would decide whether to place measures on the November 2018 ballot at a later date.

Village Entrance design discussion

Also on Tuesday the council and Planning Commission will discuss a design of the Village Entrance during a public workshop.

The city proposes a multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists amid landscaped grounds within a space that currently includes an asphalt parking lot at the corner of Forest Avenue and Broadway Street.

Laguna has tried for decades to create a more inviting entrance into the city from Laguna Canyon Road.

The area would include 387 parking spaces, including 33 compact stalls and 13 spaces reserved for bicycles, according to a staff report.

One-hundred sixty new trees, including sycamores and oaks, are scheduled to be planted.

bryce.alderton@latimes.com

Twitter: @AldertonBryce