Council committee reviews uptown streetscape project to bury overhead utilities using ACGP funds
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Summary
Council discussed a streetscape project to bury overhead electric and telecommunications lines in uptown Athens, sidewalk and streetscape work, funding through a $6.5 million ACGP award administered via Ross County, and coordination with other federally funded uptown improvements.
The Athens City Council transportation committee on March 10 reviewed a proposed uptown streetscape project that would bury overhead electric and telecommunications lines along State and Mill and make sidewalk and streetscape improvements on Carpenter and other streets.
Jeff Reiser, president pro tem of council, described the project’s scope: "The purpose of this project is to bury the overhead electric and telecommunications lines in the uptown, specifically along State and Mill between College and Congress and along Carpenter between State and Congress." He said the city is a subgrantee under Ross County and that the project has an ACGP award of $6,500,000 to cover construction funding identified in the packet.
Reiser said engineering work has already been paid directly by Ross County and that the city will bid the construction while Ross County advances the funds. He described the construction sequence the committee was told: the city contractor would build conduit, utilities would place new cabling into the conduit and install pad-mounted transformers, property owners would then hire electricians to connect to the new service, and the city would establish a reimbursement fund for property owners’ connection costs before removing old poles and repairing sidewalks.
Staff and committee members noted the need to coordinate this project with nearby federally funded sidewalk and streetscape work and with other uptown projects that may run on overlapping schedules. Reiser said the uptown burial project and a separate decorative-streetlight/rebuilt-sidewalk project must be kept separate in procurement because one involves federal funds and ODOT rules. Committee members asked staff to bring technical experts to explain sequencing and to provide examples of decorative streetlights already installed in other parts of the city.
No vote was taken in committee; members requested further explanation from engineering and federal-grant staff at a future meeting.
