News

By Dan Moffett

    Gulf Stream residents first started talking about moving their utility lines underground back in 2008, and the Town Commission came up with a plan to do it in 2010.
    The thinking then was that the $5.4 million project could be completed by the end of 2014.
    The thinking now is that was a bit too optimistic. How does the end of 2016 sound?
    “We knew it would take a long period of time,” said Vice Mayor Robert Ganger, “but we never imagined it would take this long.”
    Danny Brannon, Gulf Stream’s engineering consultant, broke the news to town commissioners Sept. 12 that the second phase of the project — which will move utility lines in the town’s north end — won’t get started until at least November, and residents can expect work to continue throughout 2015.
    “We are somewhat behind where we’d like to be,” Brannon said.
    The goal is to have all residents in the town online for underground power by the beginning of 2016. Then it still will take months to move telephone and cable TV lines underground, and then take down the utility poles and make cosmetic repairs to pavement and landscaping.
    Brannon told the commission that it took only three years to complete an underground project he oversaw on Jupiter Island. But he said that community had fewer complications than Gulf Stream.
    “There was very little telephone, very little cable TV,” he said, “and those are the things that really bog us up.”
    Brannon did bring some good news. Phase 1 work on the south end will be over by year’s end and come in on budget at roughly $2.5 million. And he said the work on Phase 2 should go somewhat smoother because north-end homes are more accessible and many of them already have underground wiring to the street poles.
    Ganger said workers are doing a commendable job of trying to inconvenience residents as little as possible. He said a construction crew stopped work on switching off the power to a home because the homeowner was busy in the kitchen.
    “The lady said, ‘I can’t be out of power because I’m baking a cake!’ ” Ganger said. “She was accommodated very happily, and I think that’s an anecdote about the fact that they are listening to us and trying the best they can to accommodate the real things in our lives.”
    Said Brannon: “It was an important cake.”
    In other business:
    • Commissioners unanimously approved a public records compliance program that sets guidelines and procedures for dealing with requests for public information.
    A 15-page document detailing the program outlines the town’s chain of command in handling records, staff education and training methods, monitoring procedures for incoming requests, fees for copying documents and enforcement policies. The program calls for an annual review and periodic reports to the Town Commission.
    Gulf Stream has been deluged with more than 1,300 public records requests during the last 18 months because of lawsuits filed by residents.
    • Town Attorney John Randolph has been named to the 2015 edition of “Best Lawyers in America” as an outstanding practitioner in municipal litigation and municipal law.
    Randolph, of Jones Foster Johnston Stubbs P.A., has more than 30 years’ experience in municipal law, serving also as attorney for the towns of Palm Beach and Jupiter Island.