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<br />. <br /> <br />-' <br /> <br />21 <br /> <br />there was something to gain in new development by forcing those <br />lines to go underground. Yes, I guess it's some benefit to <br />those people. I don't know whether every home owner gets his <br />money back out of his share of burying power lines to his house. <br />It's more expensive than hanging them on poles (inaudible) is <br />higher to bury them, I don't know, but at any rate I think <br />we have recognized, and I agree ,there is a benefit to get some <br />very unsightly things out of the way although it's an intangible, <br />to be sure. Whether it's worth the money or not, I don't know. <br />That appeals to me in this project of (inaudibl~) and when <br />Glen laid his slides on us of County Road E at an unflattering time <br />of year - winter - the poles were very evident. They're isolated <br />and certainly there's an improvement in the street, certainly it <br />(inaudible) a little more pride in the conununity. That's got to <br />be worth a few bucks (inaudible)I look at another of the. <br />important benefits of this project and that is the potential <br />for improving County Road E (inaudible) 28 accidents a year, and <br />how much is an accident worth. I don't know the price of human <br />life now and I don't want to go through the arguments of trying <br />to determine it, but our residents use County Road E so they <br />benefit directly. If we make it a little less hazardous to <br />turn left into some place of business it's got to be worth <br />something, soI'm persuaded there's a benefit. I guess I'm not <br />persuaded how you establish the cost of it other than what <br />we've got right now as an estimate of the cost today. If that <br />cost is going to go down by waiting, let's wait~ If it's going <br />to go up, let's go right now. I'm looking at the plan from the <br />Task Force as being Step 1. I have seen some very beautiful <br />downtowns that have developed. That plan doesn't do that. It's a <br />no (inaudible) no frills plan. There is none of the conversion <br />to the walks and this stuff you see in Mankato and St. Cloud, <br />and to a lesser extent our own Mall in Minneapolis. Those are <br />much more mature plans than this one. I guess if we have that <br />kind of plan presented to us now I have to agree I really don't <br />see the need for going that far, but this Interim Plan certainly <br />.makes a lot of sense and I think perhaps in the future it can <br />grow to the Ultimate or some other Ultimate as we see how it <br />works, so I guess I'm in favor of doing the minim~ at this point - <br />the Interim plan. <br /> <br />COUNCILMAN WOODBURN: I'd like to confirm or unconfirm as <br />far as burying street lights. I helped do that in 1950 and <br />was told it was as cheap as to put in overhead so you might as <br />well put in (inaudible) and the maintenance was less from <br />lightening storms (inaudible) and third, I think that's a benefit <br />to the local people and the local people pay for it entirely, <br />which is what I'd like to see here. Is the expense equivalent <br />(inaudible) . <br /> <br />MR. CHRISTOFFERSEN: I'm reading from a report - kind of a <br />pencilled report that Northern States Power provided to me. <br />