By Dan Linehan
The Free Press
MANKATO — If a new proposal to pay for the burying of power lines on Madison Avenue comes to pass, every Xcel Energy customer in Mankato will help foot the bill.
The burying of these lines has long been a desire of the city, though businesses along the road haven’t wanted to pay the estimated $656,000 in assessments to do the work.
For the first time, the City Council heard about another financing option Monday, one that would put the tab on everyone’s power bills.
Under the proposal, most of the cost would be borne by the city’s 13,517 residential electricity customers, who would pay $1.14 per month for 36 months. Businesses would pay more, topping out at $3.42 per month, also for three years.
The City Council agreed Monday to move in that direction, though it can still reverse itself. An Xcel official will be sought to explain the process to the city, perhaps at a work session later this month.
A big question remains: Is the breakdown of who pays how much flexible, or can the city change it?
Two councilors suggested large businesses wouldn’t be paying enough of the bill.
Councilman Charlie Hurd said he was troubled by two things. First, by the fact that the city as whole would pay for a benefit felt most keenly by Madison Avenue businesses. The rate structure, with a major company paying only three times more than a home owner, was another concern.
Mayor Eric Anderson agreed with Hurd.
“This is a precedent being set by the city of Mankato, is it not?” he asked City Manager Pat Hentges, who said it would indeed be the first time this financing method was being used.
Supporters of burying the line said now, while the city is doing a major road project on Madison Avenue, is the opportunity to do a long-sought improvement.
“If we don’t do it now, it’s never going to get done,” Councilwoman Tamra Rovney said.
City Manager Pat Hentges said the main benefit of the project would be a safety improvement, and supporters agreed, though they were vague about the specific safety risks entailed by keeping the lines above ground.
When Councilwoman Karen Foreman motioned to support the burial of the power lines, she included it with the entire Madison Avenue project. That bundling of a controversial measure with a popular one helped the power line burial move forward. That’s because the Madison Avenue project required six of seven votes to pass, and no one on the council wanted to vote against the whole project.
Councilors could have separated the burial of the lines and the Madison Avenue project, though they did not.
In any case, opponents will still get their shot at the power line measure by itself, probably in February.
The cost of burying the power lines is roughly equal to a 5 percent increase in the city’s levy, though it would be spread out over three years.
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