A worthy investment

Leave it better than you found it.

Plan on it: At least every 10 to 15 years in Florida, you’re going to have to replace the roof on your home to maintain the home’s value.

If you want to remain competitive in business, you must reinvest — in people, equipment and development of new products and services.

All of these good philosophies come to mind as election day approaches on Longboat Key. On Nov. 3 (sooner if you’re an early or absentee voter), Longboat Key voters will decide whether to commit themselves to $25.25 million in bonded debt so the town can eliminate its spaghetti-string, overhead electrical wires and install underground utility and fiber- optic lines and new street lights on Gulf of Mexico Drive.

For every Longboat property owner, that $25.25 million, if approved, will translate to between $153 and $182 a year for 30 years — $5,400 over 30 years.

(Of course, we all know most Longboaters won’t pay that total amount — for obvious biological reasons.) 

That’s a lot of money, to be sure. It rivals the high end of a total beach renourishment project. And we know there are pockets of Longboat residents who will argue adamantly that the cost is not worth the investment. Other opponents don’t like the way the referendum was structured, arguing the Key’s electorate should be voting only once — on a $40 million bond issue to convert not just Gulf of Mexico Drive but the entire island to underground utility lines.

That view is a moot point at this point. So the focus and analysis needs to be on the question at hand: Is it worth it?

You can read all kinds of studies online about how the cost of installing and maintaining underground utility lines is much higher than the costs for standard overhead lines. We came across one study from the Virginia State Corporations Commission that said the benefits of underground lines would offset only 38% of the costs.

Face it: You would be hard pressed to prove with data the investment pays for itself. 

Likewise, study after study points out the negatives most often associated with underground utility lines. Check out the list below.

But then, drive the length of Gulf of Mexico Drive. Pay particular attention to the power lines and poles. And then imagine all those poles replaced with more massive, taller concrete poles — for the next 30 years. 

Then imagine no power poles … and better digital services in your homes.

The decision for voters is not just economic. It’s also about the Longboat lifestyle, that ethereal thing that attracts so many here to begin with. Imagine how much cleaner and lush  the Key will look. One study said an effect of underground utility lines would be a 2.5% increase in property values — just because of the aesthetic improvement.

But there is more to it than that. The case for the underground utility lines became stronger after we spoke to Lisa Rosintoski, customer communications manager at Fort Collins (Colo.) Utilities.

Fort Collins is one of the nation’s leading cities for progressive energy policies. It adopted a formal undergrounding program in 1989. It completed the project in 2006 at a cost of $25 million, with 98% of the city’s electrical lines now underground.

Fort Collins experiences few of the negatives often cited with underground lines. When much of Colorado flooded in 2013, Fort Collins’ electrical grid was hardly affected — thanks to the city’s stormwater system. 

Electrical reliability measurements surpass most Colorado utilities. The average power disruption in the region has been 35 minutes for the past 10 quarters. In Fort Collins, they have averaged 15 minutes, although for seven  quarters they were only 10. 

Rosintoski attributes this efficiency in part to the city adopting smart meters, which ping when a disruption occurs, allowing the city to pinpoint the underground outages. 

And important to all Fort Collins residents: Power lines block no one’s views. There’s the aesthetics again.

 Drive the Key. Renovations, new construction and reinvestment are occurring all over. It’s time. 

We recommend: Yes on Nov. 3.