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Regular City Council Meeting Monday, January 11, 2010 Page 18 Councilmember Roe, as a member of the Master Plan Task Force suggested that, if Mr. Vavoulis received the extension from his management team, this discussion may need to be addressed by staff and their consultant team to determine future implications for the Master Plan process itself. 13. Business Items - Presentations/Discussions a. Discussion of Undergrounding Overhead Electric Lines on the Rice Street In- terchange Project Public Works Director Duane Schwartz reviewed options for burying overhead power lines running along the west side of Rice Street, in conjunction with con- struction of the Highway 36 and Rice Street interchange. Mr. Schwartz advised that the City's Advisory Public Works, Environment and Transportation Commis- sion had reviewed this issue at their December 2009 meeting and strongly rec- ommended that the City Council move forward with this aesthetic improvement to both the City of Roseville as well as Little Canada. Mr. Schwartz noted that the Little Canada City Council would be discussing this issue at their meeting later this same week. Mr. Schwartz provided background information on this issue and costs as detailed in the RCA dated January 11, 2010; and sought City Council direction as to whether they were interested in moving forward, noting that this would not be a final decision, but would facilitate additional and more detailed engineering by Xcel Energy as part of the ongoing design and time schedule for the interchange, and potential funding options. Mr. Schwartz provided visuals on the Rice Street corridor, original estimates for undergrounding at $1 million per mile; proposed scope of the work; the proposed option for financing the project using a Community Requested Facility Surcharge (CRFS) available for such projects with each rate payer of the City having a small surcharge added to their electric bill based on a formula over athree-year period, with such option that charge would only be applicable to the work performed within the respective City limits. Mr. Schwartz noted that, since the power lines are located on the west side of Rice Street in Roseville, even though also serving Little Canada, a great majority of the work would take place in Roseville, with both cities benefitting. Mr. Schwartz further noted that acost-sharing agreement with Little Canada would need to be negotiated with approval by both communi- ties if the project were to proceed, with current recommendation by staff in both communities supporting 50/50 split. Mr. Schwartz noted that this was the first of four anticipated phases of Rice Street corridor improvements, with the next phase expected to come forward in 2012; and the total cost for Phase I was estimated at approximately $574,000, exclusive of easement costs for ground equipment loca- tion. Mr. Schwartz advised that preliminary cost estimates, depending on cus- tomer classes, were $.76 per month for residential customers over a 3-year period,