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Crescent City council creates downtown underground utility district to secure $2.8M in work credits
Summary
The council adopted Resolution 2025-16 to form "Crescent City Underground Utility District No. 1," covering Front Street and adjacent blocks, to capture $2.8 million in Pacific Power Rule 20 credits transferred from the county. Implementation will be phased and contingent on funding and utility logistics.
The Crescent City Council voted unanimously to adopt Resolution 2025-16 on May 5, creating Crescent City Underground Utility District No. 1 to pursue undergrounding of overhead utilities on Front Street and adjacent downtown blocks.
City Attorney Martha Rice told the council the proposed district covers Front Street and the remainder of Front that is not currently undergrounded, up K Street, left on 3rd up to H Street and back to Front, and qualifies under Rule 20 criteria for pedestrian and vehicular traffic and adjacency to civic and scenic areas. "There's $2,800,000 in work credits available to the community, with Pacific Power," Rice said, noting the county transferred $2.4 million of credits to the city.
Why it matters: the credits under Rule 20 will expire June 8 unless allocated to a project, and staff said formation of the district is a necessary step to reserve those credits and begin coordinating with utilities, property owners and Caltrans for Front Street construction phases. Staff said the first construction phase would target Front Street later this summer and that the district would be implemented in phases depending on cost and utility logistics.
During public comment, resident Roger Gitlin supported the move for aesthetic reasons and asked about timing; Megan McGlasson of the Del Norte County Special Library District asked about potential service disruptions during construction. City staff responded that the project would be phased and that affected property owners and service providers would be notified if the resolution passed.
The resolution includes standard undergrounding exceptions (short-term emergency overheads, street-light poles, certain equipment cabinets and high-voltage supporting poles) and directs staff to notify owners and service providers and begin the logistics necessary to implement the project. Staff cautioned implementation depends on available funding and Pacific Power estimates and will require coordination for vaults, transformers and switching.
The council adopted the resolution by roll-call vote; staff will begin outreach and engineering steps to phase construction and maximize use of the transferred Rule 20 credits.
