Officials discuss possible Resort Street project

Power and other utility lines could go underground along six blocks of Resort Street between Auburn Avenue and Campbell Street. (Baker City Herald/S. John Collins)

By TERRI HARBER
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It will all come down to perceived worth.

And Baker City officials hope property owners along Resort Street can see how the section slated for improvement next year would look without power lines running above the sidewalk.

About 25 people attended a work session Tuesday night at Baker City Hall focused on burying utility lines under a section of Resort from Campbell Street to Auburn Avenue.

Getting the utility lines underground is integral to create a “park-like” atmosphere downtown from Main Street to the Powder River, said Mayor Dennis Dorrah.

"I think most people agree it would make our city more beautiful," said Councilor Aletha Bonebrake.

Property owners along the six-block stretch would have to pay for the lines to be buried. Earlier this year the cost was expected to be much higher than the $300,000 total amount projected now. 

"And we may be able to get additional funding," from the state or through one or more grants, Dorrah said.

But some money for burying utility lines under Resort Street could come from the Best Frontage Road project, said Baker County Commission Chairman Fred Warner Jr.

Major work on Best Frontage and Resort will be financed using Jobs and Transportation Act gas tax money. Resort is higher priority than Best Frontage Road, however. From Washington to Auburn it's one of the worst portions of road in the city and rated as “poor.”

"People — at the present — avoid Resort Street," said Councilor Clair Button.

It could become something more than "a defacto alleyway," by providing some Main Street businesses "second storefronts" accessible from Resort and points to the east once the road and sidewalk work is complete, he said.

Getting rid of the power poles would make its sidewalks more maneuverable and provide potential for more amenities. Various proponents have stated that it would benefit the entire community as well as the property owners and businesses located there.

When it comes to deciding whether the cost for putting the utility lines underground is viable, Bonebrake said she hopes that Resort Street property owners will think about "community interest."

There are 4,200 linear feet of frontage in the six-block section of Resort. Cost to do the work now is estimated to be $71.50 per linear foot. The amount sought in March was about double that.

The city sent out a letter of proposal to the property owners again earlier this month, and invited them to Tuesday’s meeting.

If the city could get the by-foot cost down to its estimated $71.50, then “you’re looking at quite a bargain” because work done on Indiana Avenue, a collector throughway in a residential area, costs about $100 a foot, Button told the group. 

Warner sees merit in the effort as well. Resort improvements would allow Main Street to remain open during summer events that have forced officials to shut it down during the past. The vendors could move booths and other activities to Resort, he said.

“I’m for it,” said local property owner Bob Haynes. At least if the cost to property owners can be contained to the $71.50 a foot because for a short distance of street “that would be virtually nothing.”

And Gary Bloomer, a property owner, wants to see beautification continue around Baker City.

“This is a neat thing,” Bloomer said. “Back in the ’60s I used to think Baker was pretty ugly compared to La Grande.”

Business owner Joyce Fagenstrom, however, said she didn’t see Resort as a viable second front for Main Street because of trash pickups, delivery trucks and the possibility of being “run down by bicyclists.”

“The community ought to kick in a little more,” she added.

Kristen Bell, market manager for the city’s Farmers Market held at nearby Geiser-Pollman Park, also wondered why the property owners were being asked to pay as opposed to the community at large.

Because, said Dorrah, “property owners will directly benefit.”

A local improvement district (LID) could be formed if enough property owners want the work done. Owners representing one-third of the frontage — 1,400 linear feet — would have to approve establishing the LID.

It also would require council approval and public readings.

It could feasibly take a small number of large property owners to form the LID. Dorrah said he would prefer more property owners than the necessary one-third be in favor of the lines being placed underground.

Members of an LID would pay for the work semi-annually over 10 or 20 years.

Dorrah and Bonebrake both said they’d consider postponing the project start date to 2013, if necessary, to help get the funds needed to put the lines underground. Waiting longer than that could jeopardize funding for the rest of the project. That is why property owners need to decide quickly about whether they want to pay for burying the utility lines, councilors said.

“Property owners will have to be willing partners or it won’t get done,” Dorrah said.

It could be a quarter-century or more until major road work on Resort allows the city another opportunity to try to get the lines underground, he and others emphasized.

Resort Street property owners can call City Manager Mike Kee at 541-523-6541 for details about the proposal. The councilors also are interested in hearing from people affected by the proposal.