Monday’s Council Meeting

MONDAY’S COUNCIL MEETING: The City Council tackles some thorny issues at its meeting on Monday, Nov. 18, including whether to proceed with evaluating borrowing options to fund undergrounding, and whether to call a special election to fill the Council vacancy created by Dwight Worden’s recent resignation.

Undergrounding: The Staff Report identifies potential financing strategies for undergrounding, including a from a “pay-as-you-go” model to a “finance-as-you-go” model, and notes that the timeline for completing the Undergrounding Program is 20 to 35 years depending on which strategy is chosen. “The current base total project cost is estimated to be $105 million in today’s dollars, which may increase to over $200 million when applying inflation and financing costs over the life of the project,” according to the staff report. This is Item 11 on the Council agenda.

Special election: The Council will also decide whether to call a special election to fill the current Council vacancy, at an estimated cost of $150,000-225,000. Staff is recommending a May 2025 date for that election, if the Council elects to call a special election. The Council could elect to leave the seat vacant until the next regular election (Nov. 2026). This is Item 12 on the Council agenda.

For more information on these items, see the City Council packet for the Nov. 18 meeting (click on the Item number in the Table of Contents to jump to the report for that item.