2. Infrastructure (Public Works) Home Page

     The second highest RPV priority should be infrastructure including utilities, roads and public services. The recent East Coast blackout showed how vulnerable we are to various events whether accidental or deliberate acts. Road repairs and maintenance are generally obvious and can be planned for but interruptions of power, natural gas and water supplies, telephone/television and trash removal services and most notably storm drain/sewer operation are often unpredictable.

     The utility companies must create/update emergency/safety plans on a regular basis for city concurrence. While some events may be an "act of God" others occur because of a failure of leadership in maintaining physical assets. While the PVE city council may not have handled it well they are addressing their storm drain/sewer issues. Proposition 218 (no new taxes/assessments without voter approval) requires a vote of the electorate (defeated by PVE voters). However it was implemented as a user fee by the PVE city council with a very small objection percentage of voters. The RPV city council needs to move faster to do the same. It is not enough to point fingers, to talk about it and to take credit for talking or to only study the problem. The "old" Miraleste area is a good example in that its infrastructure is as old as "old " PVE. Other areas can be characterized by a combination of age, geology and construction techniques.

     The bottom line is that it is a $20-30M, 10 year project. Using the approximate number of households (15,000) and the $30M that is $3M/year or ~$200/year/parcel. It is, of course interesting that $3M/year is less than the estimated income from Trump National Golf Club (TNGC) and Long Point (LP) if they had been completed instead of perpetually delayed. A simpler example is an often over looked problem eg the removal of tree limbs which occasionally topple threatening lives and property. City government must show leadership in setting policies that address issues such as these.

I support a referendum following the current study to approve at least the beginning of sewer/storm drain upgrades.

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