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HomeMy WebLinkAboutV (F) Progress Energy Upgrades on Old Winter Garden Road and Professional Parkway Agenda 7-15-2003 Mayor �e Center of Gas('fm, Commissioner', V F S. Scott. Vandergrift . ni„ Uanm I luwell, Distil ct /�/'+ Scott Anderson. District 2 Cite Manager t Sr .1{i Husky .Johnson. District 3 Jim Gleason ([` 1 `� A Nancy 1 Parker. District 4 STAFF REPORT TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Commissioners FROM: David A. Wheeler, P.E., Director of Public Works DATE: July 7, 2003 RE: Progress Energy upgrades on Old Winter Garden Road and Professional Parkway ISSUE The City of Ocoee is in the process of finalizing the design plans for the improvements to Old Winter Garden Road and Professional Parkway. As a part of those improvements the City will be impacting some underground facilities located in a private right-of-way (ROW) owned by Progress Energy, requiring Progress Energy to relocate its above ground facilities throughout most of the project area, and replacing sonic aboveground facilities in another portion of the project area. BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION Progress Energy has aboveground power distribution facilities along Professional Parkway and Old Winter Garden Road from Hemple Road to Blackwood Avenue. These facilities are distribution "power" poles located just inside the original right-of-way. They have underground facilities along Old Winter Garden Road from Blackwood Avenue to approximately Professional Parkway; these facilities are located within a private right-of-way obtained by Progress Energy. To widen the road to four lanes, including drainage systems and sidewalks, the City had to obtain additional right-of-way along the entire length of the project. Some of this ROW was given to the City as part of adjacent development and the remainder was or is being purchased. In the portion of the road along the Oak Forest Apartment complex where Progress Energy owns a private ROW for there underground facilities, the City is requiring Progress Energy to relocate some of their facilities at the Blackwood Avenue end of their ROW. Staff along with PEC, Inc. avoided impacting the majority of the private ROW and the Progress Energy facilities but was unable to completely avoid them. The cost for Progress Energy to purchase additional ROW and relocate their facilities is estimated to cost $43,072.32. This cost is unavoidable and would be paid for according to the proportional formula by Ocoee and Orange County per the Interlocal Agreement. In the portion of Old Winter Garden Road from Division Avenue to Blackwood Avenue, Progress Energy's distribution poles will not be in conflict with the road widening and related facilities. These eight poles are wooden type poles. Throughout the rest of the project area, the aboveground wooden poles need to be moved back to the edge of the new ROW line because they are in conflict with the road widening and related facilities. There are 46 wooden poles that need to be moved. There is no cost to the City to relocate the wooden poles. The City's position on electrical power facilities in new developments has been to require that they be underground. However, this is not new development but improvements affecting existing facilities. Staff asked about the possibility of placing the electrical power in this area underground. Progress Energy's position is that they will relocate or move aboveground facilities at their cost but that should it be required that those facilities be moved and changed to underground then the requesting entity must pay for that change from aboveground to below ground. Progress Energy does not install underground facilities in public ROW, they purchase private ROW so they can be the controlling party. There are also additional construction costs associated with underground installations versus aboveground facilities. The cost to the City to have the facilities changed to belowground is estimated to be at least $750,000 and probably higher. Staff did not feel that this change from aboveground to belowground was warranted based upon cost. In attempting to follow the Land Development Code and the Activity Center Special Development Plan requirements, staff looked at upgrading the distribution poles from wood to gray concrete and upgrading the street lights from the standard gray "cobra head" type fixtures to the black "deco roadway" type fixtures. Progress Energy does not paint or "color" distribution poles. If the City was to require the distribution poles to be "colored", the City would have to pay the up front cost to paint them and then the cost to repaint them each time they were repainted. There is also a possible issue of maintenance and safety for the Progress Energy employees because of electricity and paint. Progress Energy has never "colored" distribution poles, so they did not have an estimated cost. Because the distribution poles would be along the outside of the ROW, staff chose to place light fixtures on these poles as opposed to the median type design used on Maguire Road. The Old Winter Garden Road corridor is predominately commercial. The portion of Old Winter Garden Road going east into Orange County has the distribution poles along the outside edge of the ROW, the poles are wooden not concrete, and much of the area is not lighted. This is Orange County's standard. The City will probably be required to pay the total cost for the upgrade for the pales from wood to concrete since it is an upgrade according to Orange County standards. Progress energy has calculated the cost differential for wood poles versus concrete poles. For the 46 poles that need to be relocated,the City's cost to upgrade them to concrete poles would be $32,115.99. For the 8 poles that do not need to be relocated and are wood, the City's cost to have them replaced with concrete poles to be uniform throughout the project area would be $22,208.44. The total cost to use concrete poles throughout the project area is $54,324 43_ Additionally, to have the entire roadway corridor lighted with the "deco roadway" fixtures the upfront capital cost is estimated to not exceed $55,000. The light fixtures would be attached to the distribution poles where available and additional poles would be installed in the areas where there were no distribution poles. Because Orange County does not light their roadways, the City would probably be required to bear the entire cost of the lighting. RECOMMENDATION Staff provides the following recommendation: • Accept the proposal for the modifications as required within the Progress Energy ROW to relocate their facilities to conflict with the roadway improvements for the cost of $43,072.32 and authorize staff to execute the documents with Progress Energy. These costs would be split between Ocoee and Orange County in the 46/54% respective share arrangement. • Authorize staff to proceed with the proposal to have Progress Energy install concrete, instead of wooden, poles throughout the project limits for the amount of$54,324.43 and authorize staff to execute the documents with Progress Energy. This cost would be paid entirely by Ocoee. • Authorize staff to proceed with the proposal to have Progress Energy install the black "deco roadway" fixtures on the distribution poles and install additional concrete poles for the remainder of the light poles for the not to exceed amount of $55,000 and authorize staff to execute the documents with Progress Energy. This cost would be paid entirely by Ocoee. "the total cost for all three proposals is $152,396.75. The breakdown is Orange County's share is approximately $23,259.05 and Ocoee's share is $129,137.70, to be paid from Transportation Bond Funds earmarked for the Old Winter Garden Road/Professional Parkway Roadway Improvements Project.