Where Does City Hall Get Off Pushing Undergrounding Utilities?

Residents Say Parks & Bike/Ped, 

City Says Undergrounding

Opinion
The recent utility undergrounding debacle covered by the Tattler on March 18th informs us about how it pays to be a well connected developer in Emeryville but what that story failed to elaborate on is City Hall's announcement that it intends to spend more than a million General Fund dollars undergrounding overhead wires on Hollis Street.  We have to ask: How does City Hall see spending limited General Fund money on this?
The people of Emeryville have told the decision makers what they want;  they have said in a loud and clear voice they want parks and bike/pedestrian connectivity, not undergrounding utility wires.

City Hall Should Know What We Want
Residents have been poked and prodded and quarried for more than two years by City Hall.  There were countless General Plan meetings and visioning workshops.  We were asked over and over: What do you want to see the city focus on?  The people spoke and undergrounding utilities came down near the bottom of the list.

The Players:
City Hall power broker
councilwoman Nora Davis
& friend Wareham president
Rich Robbins

So how is it that a plan is spawned by City Hall to spend more than a million taxpayer dollars on something the residents don't want?  We find it interesting that Wareham Development Corporation, the most connected developer in town, does want the undersgrounding to happen.  The aforementioned Tattler story shows how Wareham stands to financially benefit from the undergrounding scheme.  Is there a nexus between the desires of Wareham and the actions of City Hall?

It wouldn't be the first time.

Our city has bent over backwards to accommodate Wareham, often at the expense of the residents.  This most recent betrayal of the citizen's interests is particularly galling however.  We wonder how it will be explained, if at all.
It appears the retraction by one property owner to the undergrounding scheme may have caused the implosion of the North Hollis Undergrounding Assessment District as the March 18th Tattler story illustrated.  That property owner, Andy Getz may have saved other Emeryville property owners and residents from paying dearly for something they don't want.

This undergrounding would have been paid for by the Emeryville Redevelopment Agency before its demise.  In the wake of the Agency's collapse, Emeryville has been left with only its meager General Fund to pay for most everything now.  For City Hall to try to tap the General Fund to pay for this undergounding is egregious; it would come at the direct expense of all the things the residents have said they do want.
It would appear that the people of Emeryville will need to pay closer attention, minding the General Fund.  After all, it's our money.

We would like to say we live in a town that placed the desires of the residents over those of favored developers.  The North Hollis undergrounding scheme puts it into focus for us; that's not the kind of town we do live in.

City Hall Pushing North Hollis Undergrounding

City Hall In Bed With Wareham: Undergrounding Utilities

For the last two years the city of Emeryville has joined with Wareham Development Corporation to pursue the undergrounding of overhead electrical wires in the North Hollis Street area through use of a special assessment district authorized to levy taxes on property owners; a move that has raised the ire of many property owners in the district.  The property owners have cried foul since Wareham would recieve taxpayer cash back for undergrounding work it has already done on its own accord, an
unwarranted benefit from the cozy relationship it has cultivated with City Hall.

The assessment district funding for North Hollis undergrounding is part of a long term city plan to ultimately remove overhead wires throughout the city but unlike North Hollis, the utility undergrounding work for other parts of the city up til now has been paid for by the now defunct Redevelopment Agency and developers.
The North Hollis Assessment District extends along the Hollis Street corridor from just south of Powell Street up to the Berkeley border.

Rich Robbins:
President of the influential 
Wareham Development 
Corporation

Assessment districts are formed by a vote of property owners in the proposed district, with 50% (by geographic area) needed to create a taxing entity.  Wareham Development, the largest landowner in the proposed North Hollis Assessment District district, was an early supporter as was HFH Ltd, another property owning firm on Hollis Street.  After it became clear these two large property owners' acreage was not quite enough to reach 50%, the city itself, being the owner of three small parcels of land, threw their vote in, tipping the total just over the 50% magic number.
Other property owners in the district found the prospects of being forced to pay for the assessment district onerous and they are forming their own association, the Emeryville Property Owners Association, to challenge the Wareham/City Hall juggernaut.

 The CEO of HFH Ltd, Andy Getz, has subsequently withdrawn support for the district, leaving Wareham and City Hall as the sole supporters, putting the undergrounding work on hold.

Members of the nascent Property Owners Association noted their objections to the heavy handed tactics used by the city and Wareham, including hints of back room deals, at a city sponsored meeting last week.  Some of the property owners have expressed displeasure that Wareham has already paid for the undergrounding of utilities as part of the Planning Department approval process for its new development projects in the district and that Wareham would receive back hundreds of thousands of dollars from the city if the assessment district is formed.  The city required Wareham, a San Rafael based corporation, to underground the utility poles for the Hollis Street block north of Powell Street as part of the conditions of approval for the new EmeryStation Greenway building last year and Wareham would receive cash back for the portion of undergrounding it has done not immediately adjoining  their new building.  The other property owners would split these costs with Wareham. 

If the North Hollis undergrounding proceeds by way of the North Hollis Assessment District, the city will help pay for the work, more than a million dollars, paid out of the General Fund.

Outrage Erupts: Property Owners Association Forms

Lack Of Transparency At City Hall: New Group Forms 

Former city councilman Ken Bukowski recently announced the formation of the 'Emeryville Property Owners Association', a group risen up organically he says, in response to a lack of transparency at City Hall. The organization, meant to serve as a conduit of information between property owners, the School District and City Hall is so far made up of property owners in the north Hollis Street area and is concerning itself at the onset with the North Hollis Underground Utility District.  The District is a new special tax assessment area set up by City Hall, effecting property owners there.  Mr Bukowski explains the organization is attracting property owners, many of whom are business owners, who's interests have been under-represented by City Hall and the Chamber of Commerce.

The North Hollis Underground Utility District has been set up to get rid of unsightly power lines along Hollis Street primarily by Wareham Development, a well connected prime mover and shaker developer in that part of Emeryville.
Mr Bukowski noted that a special assessment district such as North Hollis must be initiated by property owners in a democratic fashion but a lack of transparency from City Hall combined with a desire to help Wareham has resulted in a steamroller project.  Mr Bukowski claims the proposed undergrounding work will be a costly tax for a majority of property owners in the North Hollis area, some of whom were caught unaware by the whole deal until the recently sent city notices of the amount each owner will owe.

Mr Bukowski also noted the interest to be charged the property owners for the undergrounding work is onerous: 6-8% and this is unwarranted.

In the case of North Hollis, Wareham's holdings are so vast that only one other property owner's OK was needed, combined with three holdings of the City of Emeryville, to greenlight the whole undergrounding project.  The city's assessment to itself for the undergrounding work would amount to more than a million dollars, paid from the General Fund according to Mr Bukowski.

The former councilman said out of 21 owners, as few as two were aware the special assessment district was being created and that these affected property owners are clamoring for the collective representation that the Property Owners Association will bring.

At their first meeting, the Property Owners Association also discussed the Emeryville Center of Community Life and the Measure J bonds they must pay.  Mr Bukowski told the Tattler that of the 16 property owners that attended, only three had even heard of the Center of Community Life and the tax they'll have to pay for the bonds.  "This organization is going to be all about transparency" he said, "The people that pay the money should be appraised of the situation" he added.

The group will be open to all Emeryville property owners and will have a website opening soon.