Background

Earlier this year Commonwealth Edison advised the Village that they were making infrastructure improvements in the area of Hickory and Kensington, as well as, other neighborhoods. Specifically, Commonwealth Edison is proposing to upgrade the electrical capacity from 4KV to 12KV lines. As a result of this notice, Village had conversations with Commonwealth Edison representatives and their attorney’s regarding requirements for undergrounding overhead facilities.

In August the Village entered into an agreement with Commonwealth Edison to bury the overhead Commonwealth Edison lines just along Kensington Road between Hickory and Beverly. This would result in removal of approximately seven poles with some pole mounted transformers and require two ground mounted transformers/switch gear to be placed within the Kensington Road right of away and will be funded from the Hickory/Kensington TIF district. Two poles on the south side if Kensington would need to be installed to maintain service to buildings in the Kensington/Northwest Highway triangle. When redevelopment of the triangle occurs overhead lines in this area could be buried as part of that redevelopment. Since then, cost estimates have been obtained to relocate overhead AT & T services that are part of this project. The Letter of Agreement dated July 13, 2023 is the most current agreement we continue to work on with AT & T. The cost will be $96,642.75.

Funding

Staff recommends funding the undergrounding of the AT & T lines be paid from the Hickory/Kensington TIF district. The Hickory/Kensington TIF district runs until 2037. At the end of 2022, the TIF district had a positive fund balance of approximately $4M. The Village has committed to project costs for the Campbell Street extension and 4 N. Hickory public private partnerships in the amount approximately $1.5M plus $120,000 per year maximum commitment for 8 years for 4 N. Hickory. It is further anticipated that the 4 N. Douglas development will request public private partnership. However, projections indicate that the Village could pay for the Commonwealth Edison and AT & T undergrounding, as well as, facilitate additional development while still maintaining a positive TIF fund balance to facilitate future redevelopment.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Village Board authorize the Village Manager to execute an underground relocation agreement with AT & T to relocate the aboveground utility lines along the north side of Kensington Road between Hickory Avenue and South Beverly Lane. The cost estimate is $96,642.75 to be funded from the Hickory/Kensington TIF District – Account # 266-4001-550250