TUSTIN : Hearing to Focus on Utility Line Project

The City Council will hold a public hearing today on a proposal to put utility lines under the ground along a stretch of Red Hill Avenue.

The plan was opposed last year by local property owners, who objected to the expense.

The project is part of the city’s efforts to put utility lines under the ground for public safety, officials said.

The nine property owners affected by the project had protested because they argued they each would have to pay as much as $1,600 for the conversion, according to an earlier estimate by the Public Works Department.

Public Works Director Robert Ledendecker, however, said that a revised estimate showed the cost would be much less.

He said it will cost $300 to reconnect electrical service and $100 for telephone service, or a total of $400.

City officials said that the utility lines have to be put underground and the utility poles removed on Red Hill Avenue between Copperfield DriveCand Nisson Road for health and safety reasons.

Edison Co. will spend $250,000 to bury the utility cables, while the city will spend $6,000 for five new street lights.

An ordinance will be introduced today to create a special assessment district that will receive the onetime $400 assessment from the property owners, officials said.

If the council gives the ordinance preliminary approval, it will come back for final approval on March 7 and will take effect in 30 days.