Gulf Stream votes to bury power lines

Gulf Stream Town Clerk Rita Taylor and Town Manager William Thrasher (foreground) count votes  from the staw ballot to approve the funding of underground utilities in Gulf Stream.  Bob Ganger and Ron Bennett work in the background.  The vote to approve the undergrounding won 175-136.

GULF STREAM—Overhead power lines are going underground, town property owners decided in a 175-136 vote.

‘’It’s a go,’’ Vice Mayor Joan Orthwein said on her cell phone shortly after Town Clerk Rita Taylor announced the results.

The vote will cost the average single-family residence $15,218, town consultants have said. Officials will look for ways to finance the project over 10 or 20 years for people who don’t want to pay the full amount upfront.

The margin was 56 percent to 44 percent, unlike the 90-10 landslide in Jupiter Island and 75-25 split in Jupiter Inlet Colony. 

— Steve Plunkett

Vice Mayor Joan Orthwein gives Civic Association President Bob Ganger a hug while Mayor William F. Koch, Jr enjoys the results of the vote. Photos by Jerry Lower