Just under half of the total cost for the proposed burying of utility lines is to be paid for by just 24 parcels of land — the condominium parcels. The other 432 parcels will pay $2.6 million while the condos will pay $2.4 million.
It is inherently unfair and unreasonable to assess a one-bedroom condominium the same as a Gulf Stream mansion, but that is what’s happening.
We all know that the cost to bury underground lines is based on the length of the street in front of each property parcel. The number of units on each parcel does not result in any additional cost to the project. Nevertheless, the town is attempting to shove a disproportionate share of this project onto the condo owners.
The primary reason for this project was reported in the March 2011 Coastal Star article by Steve Plunkett in which Mayor William F. Koch Jr. said, “These trees are very important to us.” This project will “boost property values and protect the town’s signature Australian pines along A1A.”
A 2008 report by the Edison Electric Institute that analyzed the previous six years of major storm data found that underground electric systems have much longer outages than overhead electric systems, are susceptible to outages from flooding due to storm surge and heavy rain, and do not appear to justify the high price tag. The report states that the improved reliability of an underground electric system is “somewhat of an urban legend.”
The town of Gulf Stream is a wonderful place, but the action by the town administration is dividing its citizenry over a bunch of invasive non-native Australian pine trees that will likely fall down anyway in a major storm and block the major road in and out of Gulf Stream — whether the utility lines are buried or not.
The Town Administration scheduled the utilities vote on on Feb. 7 and it was approved by a narrow margin, with most condo owners voting no. Then on March 8, the vote was held on whether or not to annex the county pocket, which contains mostly condos. The annexation was approved, but the annexed condos have had no vote on the utilities.
There are alternatives that have not been explored, including burying utilities in some areas only. We ask the town commissioners to revisit the problem and not force a fight that would be very divisive to our community.
Jim and Margo Gammon
Gulfstream Shores
Gulf Stream
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