Palm Tree decision postponed until March PB&R Commission Meeting

As far as I can tell, the PB&R commission will be meeting in March to discuss the palm trees. Although they voted in the January meeting to make a decision in February, palm trees are not on the agenda for the February 23rd meeting. I also got an email from Nancy Hall suggesting that the city and PG&E are hoping the added time would help all involved.

Created online Petition

I've just created an online petition. Let's get some signature and some responses that we can share with PG&E. I'll forward to Doug McPherson, Vegetation Program Manager at PG&E and also share with the public to show City officials that residents care:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/vallemar-palms

update from Nancy Hall

I have not spoken with any officials from PG&E or the City of Pacifica, but I got this email from nancy hall yesterday. Excerpts below pertaining to the palms

P.G.&E. is moving to postpone the commission meeting on the 23rd to the regular march meeting ( I don't have the date yet )
In order to do two things:

Give us more time to come up with the money and work with them and The City toward the best alternative to cutting.

Allow P.G.&E. to come up with what we are now pressuring them for - a more reasonable pricing for some of the options that have been discussed.
....

That is all good news as far as I can see.

In addition, we discussed what could/should be moved first.
...since the pole repositioning at Ramona would make for a side-loaded pole in need of a guy wire, it may be a hard sell with those neighbors, and besides a pole extension is a lot cheaper especially if we are doing it

as a temporary fix while we fast track our exploration of under grounding. The pole that could be moved without as much political fall out (?) would be the one
where we end up with a pole in the park on city land even if it means removing some eucs or scrubby pines.

Palm trees currently at risk

Patti Wylie's provided this list of palm trees:

197 Ramona Ave- Immediate
-----Under Primary, existing secondary strain

477 Reina Del Mar Ave-Immediate
----Under Primary, no secondary

571 Reina Del Mar Ave- Future Concern
----Under Primary, through secondary, no strain

577 Reina Del Mar Ave- Future Concern
----Under Primary, under secondary

753 Reina Del Mar Ave- Future Concern
----Under Primary, no secondary

771 Reina Del Mar Ave- Future Concern
----Under Primary, no secondary

823 Reina Del Mar Ave- Future Concern
----Under Primary, through secondary, no strain

835 Reina Del Mar Ave- Immediate
----Under Primary, no secondary, guy wire

853 Reina Del Mar Ave -Future Concern
----Under Primary, no secondary, guy wire, transformer on pole

877 Reina Del Mar Ave- Future Concern
----Under Primary, no secondary, service wire

107 Amapola – Immediate
---- Side Primary

Move the Utility Poles

Moving the poles:
In early 2000, the utility pole near the intersection of Reina Del Mar and Juanita was moved to the creek-side to save a couple palms. If memory serves me right, Pacifica paid PG&E about $7500 to move that utility pole. Today, PG&E is requiring that we pay a $3000 fee up front to first determine if moving the pole is even possible. If it's determined that a pole may be moved, we can then pay them $10,000 to $20,000 to move each utility pole. The thing is, we should be able to move the utility poles for much less, and perhaps we could even clear the area and dig the holes.

Here is how we could move the pole at 477 Reina Del Mar Ave:


At 835 Reina Del Mar, we may have to remove 1 or 2 pine trees. I don't like removing any trees, but these trees are near the end of their life and will in the near future pose a risk. They also don't add nearly as much value as the palms.

The Current state of affairs

I've had a number of requests for information about our palm trees and PG&E, so I tried to write a brief summary.

BACKGROUND
PG&E is required by law to maintain a 10 foot clearance around the high voltage lines. With most trees, PG&E can trim (or pay a contractor to perform the directional pruning), encouraging the trees away from power lines, allowing them to grow in interesting directions. Palm trees growing under power lines present a problem to the utility company, because they cannot be trimmed effectively; cutting into the crown of a palm will kill the tree.

Today, there are three palm trees that do not meet the regulatory clearance required by PG&E. If PG&E trims these trees any further, it will kill the trees. This would then leave the burden of removing the dead trees on our cash-strapped city. Since Pacifica has no money, PG&E has graciously offered to remove the trees, and even offered to provide up to $300 for new trees.

Our palm trees:
Our palm trees are Canary Island Date Palms. These trees are about 100 years old and are estimated to live anywhere from 150 to 300 years. I called two companies and got estimates on what it would cost to replace such a tree. To replace them with smaller, but full grown trees is in the range of $25,000. Did I mention PG&E offered $300?
PG&E has already identified 14 11 trees they plan to remove, 3 immediately. This will have a significant negative impact on our property values.

Moving the trees:
Moving a large palm tree would cost between $6500-$8500, but given that they are so close to the power lines, it may actually be more expensive in this situation. Also given the age of our trees and the abuse they've already suffered from the pruning, moving the trees will most likely kill them. Also, these factors make them poor candidates for selling, so we can't really do that either.

Moving the poles:
In early 2000, the utility pole near the intersection of Reina Del Mar and Juanita was moved to the creek-side to save a couple palms. If memory serves me right, Pacifica paid PG&E about $7500 to move that utility pole. Today, PG&E is requiring that we pay a $3000 fee up front to first determine if moving the pole is even possible. If it's determined that a pole may be moved, we can then pay them $10,000 to $20,000 to move each utility pole.

Palm trees nearing the high voltage lines presents a danger that needs to be addressed soon. here's my take:

• The palm trees were there long before the utility lines
• When the power lines were built, the trees were over 10 feet tall.
• PG&E was responsible for choosing the location and constructing utility lines directly above palm trees. They should have foreseen that the trees would eventually grow into the lines.
• PG&E is required by law to maintain the lines, and that includes responsibly placing utility lines in a location where they may be maintainable.
• Relocating utility poles is cheaper than replacing palm trees, and will not only save the three trees in question today, but can also save other palm trees in the future.