[{"_1":2,"_88":-5,"_89":-5},"loaderData",{"_3":4,"_26":27},"root",{"_5":6,"_17":10,"_18":19,"_20":21,"_22":10,"_23":-5,"_24":-5,"_25":10},"user",{"_7":8,"_9":10,"_11":10,"_12":-5,"_13":-5,"_14":15,"_16":-5},"roles",[],"isAuthenticated",false,"isPremium","planName","subscriptionStatus","featureFlags",{},"insightsBudget","isDevelopmentHost","userPreferences",{},"recaptchaSiteKey","6LcvOJcUAAAAAHsB-gPGfGktcRlKpH7OTIU_dMTD","isImpersonating","impersonation","affiliateStatus","isFreedomPortal","routes/v2/article/layout",{"_28":29,"_30":31},"notFound",true,"relatedArticles",[32,76],{"_33":34,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":40,"_41":42,"_43":44,"_45":46,"_47":48,"_49":50,"_51":52,"_53":54,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":60,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":66,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},"mediaId",6292729,"mediaKeyId","2525522-fc137a7000c4727dd017da57b82d05d1","parentId",2525522,"title","Atherton staff seeks council direction on exceptions to 1966 undergrounding rule after developers, PG&E describe technical limits","audioSeconds",2784,"startMs",2734000,"endMs",5518000,"viewUrl","/Search/View?dp=1&key=2525522-fc137a7000c4727dd017da57b82d05d1&start=2734&end=5518","thumbnailUrl","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2525522-fc137a7000c4727dd017da57b82d05d1/thumbnail_2734000.jpg","articleUrl","/articles/6292729/California/Atherton-staff-seeks-council-direction-on-exceptions-to-1966-undergrounding-rule-after-developers-PGE-describe-technical-limits","mediaUrl","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6292729-f691f033f7e610fd6859ea845ce0416e/orig.mp4?Expires=1770613390&Signature=kgO9d39YSmqYv~t5tiVU0kA7LSm4kskoVGoXRqtCnna1g~me6guToSruQGBmvVOuVoWmqrYXf3Fjn6XyEoY12VYdAsIG7PW0mBtSgxhT7sOQHHrHHQfWdaXURgqzxQ3TakScO1tpch~sKlA61SISKVkzl0JtssIRlvrS3Jigf5l5bzAoOB7CyAw2xujXs79OrHzRxgQI2uaIyNERhtxZAuWWemucOJlgGeasFxNdHNzOefgFUBAt-bF~tdz-u06~qwNCp43Vd1SUUnOcIBusRn9T1KQdO7rOVSm0bdUrnVTAhfHFV0TmEb0sJKSPxhNG1Pd8zeFsV4y7Pwpb5rcp1g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","author","Town Council of Atherton CA","date","2025-03-06T17:45:25Z","article","Town staff asked the council on March 5 for policy guidance on whether to create a formal exception process to a 1966 Atherton ordinance that requires utility service lines to be installed underground for new construction.

“We are concerned that the most expedient way causes impacts to the neighbors,” staff member Robert Avadia said, summarizing a set of real‑world scenarios in which developers asked to extend overhead service because the nearest PG&E pole contains transformers or the primary line cannot be brought underground without substantial work.

The code language staff cited states that “all telephone, telegraph, electrical wires and other such services to newly constructed wires shall be constructed underground” and applies to dwellings that did not have building permits issued before the ordinance’s effective date. Staff described four typical scenarios: flag lots where the nearest pole has a transformer; cul‑de‑sac poles with transformers; situations where installing a pad‑mounted transformer on the property is feasible but primary wiring distance causes voltage drop; and properties adjacent to the Atherton drainage channel where crossing the channel with underground conduit is limited by PG&E engineering.

Developers and PG&E representatives told the council that undergrounding is generally preferred but can be technically or financially infeasible in some cases. “We know it's gonna take 12 to 24 months in some cases to get power,” developer Rex Finado of Pacific Peninsula Group said, describing the timing and engineering obstacles his team has encountered on a Berry Lane project. Finado and other developers said they regularly install pad‑mounted transformers on properties but in the cited case could not reach a primary feed without constructing long, costly runs or relying on a neighbor’s infrastructure.

PG&E interim local government representative Bill Chang described two drivers for the utility’s recent preference for overhead primary lines and for placing transformers above ground rather than underground: higher cost and greater maintenance and reliability challenges for underground transformers. “Underground transformers are much more expensive to obtain and to put underground and...much more difficult to maintain,” Chang said. He also explained that underground transformers can be more susceptible to sustained high temperatures because they do not cool as readily as air‑cooled, above‑ground equipment.

Chang said PG&E accepts the principle of an exceptions process for municipal undergrounding ordinances and described existing mechanisms that can address larger‑scale undergrounding work, including Rule 20 programs and undergrounding districts (Rule 20b/20c variants) in which a jurisdiction or property owners fund undergrounding of larger segments of distribution lines.

Multiple council members expressed support for preserving the town’s undergrounding policy while giving staff a narrow, well‑specified authority to approve exceptions where visible community impacts are minimal or where no practical alternative exists. “I think the right policy decision is to discourage overhead wires as the Atherton municipal code intends to do,” Council member Degolia said, adding that an exception process should be limited to cases where the new overhead line would not be visible to neighbors.

Developers urged faster and clearer pathways that avoid repeated months‑long interactions with PG&E that can delay construction. “We also have a house ... that’s been on temporary power for over a year and a half because PG&E and the neighbor can't agree about vegetation in the easement,” Pacific Peninsula’s Jude Kierigan said, arguing the town could benefit from a structured dialogue with PG&E and a clear staff process for exceptional circumstances.

Staff told the council it would draft a policy‑level exception process with strict criteria and a recommended procedural path (staff approval vs. planning commission or council review) and return for council direction. Chang offered to follow up with technical answers about the specific Berry Lane property and to work with staff to identify whether a feasible alternative feed or a Rule 20‑type approach exists.

No code changes were made at the study session; council members generally supported the idea of a narrowly tailored exceptions process and asked staff to return with proposed criteria and procedures before the item would be considered for a formal code amendment or variance process.

The council did not take formal action during the study session; staff will prepare draft language and a decision pathway for future council consideration.","mediaType","Video","parentTitle","City Council Study Session March 5, 2025","oneSentenceSummary","Town staff asked the council on March 5 for policy guidance on whether to create a formal exception process to a 1966 Atherton ordinance that requires utility service lines to be installed underground for new construction.","taxTitle","Atherton Town, San Mateo County, California","taxId",72378,"location","California","headline","","shortSummary",{"_33":77,"_35":36,"_37":38,"_39":78,"_41":79,"_43":80,"_45":81,"_47":82,"_49":83,"_51":84,"_53":85,"_55":56,"_57":58,"_59":86,"_61":62,"_63":64,"_65":87,"_67":68,"_69":70,"_71":72,"_73":74,"_75":74},6292734,"Atherton finance director previews FY 2025–26 budget; town shows small midyear improvement, pension and ERAF shortfalls remain",2042,154000,2196000,"/Search/View?dp=1&key=2525522-fc137a7000c4727dd017da57b82d05d1&start=154&end=2196","https://assets.pipeline.soar.com/2525522-fc137a7000c4727dd017da57b82d05d1/thumbnail_154000.jpg","/articles/6292734/California/Atherton-finance-director-previews-FY-202526-budget-town-shows-small-midyear-improvement-pension-and-ERAF-shortfalls-remain","https://secure.pipeline.soar.com/6292734-1db76dd013395836100722447df01d72/orig.mp4?Expires=1770613390&Signature=ROqHsnCo3JFljGPfDchioZMT-sMJ2OfQFhcBSXHgTItBZrxXstb0a56N~S3xe6qse2er3iY~PuG3RGZ7zkPZ2mk9Ife9AhfRqA6iBnmjj9-q2rJBbpLAKUMvjlVxK5WPbHOdHhoYQjO3aCP-OwqT8yizbzhGg2C4WkDnlLKzilXQIHuC-GpzUIA38fMNErZqqbjM3U4cEi9PkKVH5vTmbnM-4oUaoAPLn6Fiq1WKyhi42ApvVlRrIG-ddqkChgCgi6Hgdbop46BuBQ8cBEP7VstPdmG3pW0Fw1WfO0NKXg5YRYxNXcp3gv71W7QMn~QotK9NCxcJy30JMGbjIKqx7g__&Key-Pair-Id=KUT5TJCACFTXG","Atherton’s finance director told the Town Council and Audit Finance Committee on March 5 that the town’s midyear financial update narrows its projected fiscal 2024–25 deficit and outlines revenue and reserve assumptions the council will use during the FY 2025–26 budget process.

“This is a high level overview,” Finance Director Robert said, describing the presentation as a forecast, not the detailed expenditure plan staff will return with later in the budget cycle.

The presentation showed the general fund revenue forecast rising at midyear from $25.5 million to $26.3 million and expenditures increasing slightly to about $21.2 million. Transfers out were listed at $5.3 million, including roughly $861,000 in Certificates of Participation (COP) debt service related to the Town Center project and about $4.5 million allocated to COP projects. Staff reported a midyear projection for fiscal 2024–25 that narrows the anticipated deficit from about $830,000 to approximately $196,000.

The nut of the outlook, staff said, is that the town expects to end FY 2024–25 with a total fund balance near $12.4 million, of which roughly $6.3 million is the combined emergency and operating reserve requirement (15% emergency, 15% contingency as calculated in the staff report). That produces an estimated unallocated fund balance around $6.04 million available for one-time uses, capital projects or other allocations, subject to council direction.

Staff emphasized three revenue items that drive the five‑year forecast: property taxes, building fees and excess ERAF receipts. The five‑year forecast uses midrange growth assumptions for property taxes (4.5% in near years, increasing to 5.5% later in the window), building fees projected at 2–4% depending on the year, and a conservative $2.5 million per year assumption for excess ERAF in the forecast even though the town received about $2.7 million this year.

“The VLF shortfall is another revenue that’s part of the property tax roll up,” Robert said, referring to the Vehicle License Fee (VLF) and its interaction with ERAF (the Educational Revenue Augmentation Fund) and school funding formulas. Staff highlighted an ongoing, multi‑county shortfall the town is monitoring—roughly $1.414 million across fiscal years cited in the presentation—and noted the town’s lobbyists have previously worked with the Legislature to seek backfill for these gaps.

Pension liabilities and the town’s CalPERS unfunded actuarial liability (UAL) were a major discussion point. The staff report and the town’s actuarial materials show an increase in the town’s total pension liability to about $19.1 million (up roughly $1 million year over year). The town currently projects UAL payments of about $1.83 million for FY 2025–26 (approximately $1.2 million for public safety and $618,000 for miscellaneous plans). Finance committee members and volunteers discussed the effect of an earlier $5 million additional discretionary payment (ADP) to CalPERS and differing calculations of its long‑term savings.

Volunteer commenter Bill Pulido, who has analyzed the ADP result, told the council the payment reduced future liabilities more than the staff’s year‑to‑year comparison implied and estimated a larger long‑term savings. “The reduction in payments over the life of those mortgages was in the neighborhood of $11,000,000,” Pulido said, describing the UAL layers as comparable to mortgage amortizations. Staff and finance committee members said they will return to the council with a more detailed assessment and a recommendation at an upcoming finance meeting.

Staff flagged that the unallocated fund balance is the pool that could be used for a future ADP or additional capital spending, but cautioned the council that using that unallocated balance in FY 2024–25 would flow through and reduce available balances in subsequent forecast years. “If you take that $6 million, it flows all the way through,” Robert said. Staff said the operations budget review will return to the council on April 2, the capital improvement budget study session is scheduled for May 7, and the consolidated budget study session is planned for June 4 ahead of potential adoption on June 18.

The presentation included a list of grant and donation funds that currently augment general fund operations and capital needs, including a roughly $240,000 package of donations earmarked for police wellness and training. Staff also noted a remaining county advance for library funding of about $1.5 million that the town expects to retire by the 2025–26 fiscal year.

Council members asked staff to return with specific options and analyses for the pension ADP, the five‑year CIP prioritization and the detailed impact on FY 2025–26 reserves if council chooses to allocate one‑time funds. Staff committed to produce updated financial spreadsheets and to present options that preserve the town’s reserve policy while showing tradeoffs between ADP and CIP investment.

Looking ahead, staff recommended continuing to monitor ERAF and VLF developments at the state level and to update the council as legislative or actuarial changes affect the five‑year outlook. The council directed staff to bring back detailed operational and capital budget materials in the schedule shown so elected officials could make formal budget choices during the regular study and adoption meetings in April–June.

The council did not take any formal action during the study session; staff will return with proposed options and analyses for council decisions later this spring.","At a March 5 joint study session, Atherton finance staff presented a high-level kickoff of the FY 2025–26 budget, reporting a reduced midyear deficit, projected reserves, key revenue assumptions and continuing pension and ERAF funding concerns that could affect future years’ balances.","actionData","errors"]

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Atherton staff seeks council direction on exceptions to 1966 undergrounding rule after developers, PG&E describe technical limits

Atherton finance director previews FY 2025–26 budget; town shows small midyear improvement, pension and ERAF shortfalls remain