City Council Minutes 2000 09 05 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Louisville City Council Meeting September 5, 2000 Page 9. Mayer stated that PSCo should pay for the temporary upgrades. He noted that Greenwood Village formed a committee, with technical expertise to review burial of lines. He felt that such a committee would be helpful in this matter. Mayer commented that denial of the SRU would not advance the interests of either the City of PSCo and suggested Council condition the SRU to require PSCo pay for the temporary upgrades. COUNCIL COMMENTS Levihn cautioned that Home Rule might not be the answer all the questions. He stated that he had spoken to a great number of people who do not want to tax themselves to pay for the burial project. He commented that this project would require a combination of a lot of taxes and City money. Keany commented that if PSCo allowed their application to be continued to April of 2001, the City would be in a better position to evaluate their financial options. Brown recognized that PSCo has been very cooperative during this process and asked for their continued flexibility. He stated that a date needs to be determined that would allow the Home Rule question and the bonding issue to be put to a vote. He stated that he would be comfortable with a longer timeframe. Brown stated that he would support a conditional approval of the SRU. Howard stated that if the SRU is not approved, the City may experience brownouts during peak demands, or Public Service may go forward with the above grounding of the lines. He noted that PSCo has a responsibility to provide power and that he has a responsibility to the citizens to ensure they get the services needed. He stressed that there must be a mechanism to provide an interim solution until the City can find the financial funding needed for burial of the lines. He stated that the citizens have a right to vote on taxation for burial of the line and noted that the issue of Home Rule might not guarantee the citizens' willingness to increase their taxes. He felt the citizens should be fully advised of what they are being taxed for and how much it will cost them. Sisk concurred with the Planning Commission findings that the PSCo application does not meet the Special Review Use criteria. He noted that criteria 1, 2, and 4 of the Special Review Use have not been met. Davidson stated that the issue of Home Rule might not address the problem, nor are there any guarantees that a general property tax increase would be passed by the voters. He 9