Council Says “No” To Referendum on Undergrounding

Key Biscayne Council Member Brett Moss listens to debate at meeting, May 21, 2019 (Key News/Tony Winton)

An idea to hold a referendum on whether to go forward with a utility undergrounding project was deep-sixed by the Village Council Tuesday, as members turned aside a proposal from Council Member Ignacio Segurola. The move came as the Council waits to learn whether pending Florida legislation will radically alter project finances.

Instead of voting on a referendum, Council Member Brett Moss flipped the script by introducing a motion that would rule out a referendum. It passed 6-1, appearing to catch Segurola off guard.

Moss said a public opinion survey conducted by the Village earlier found undergrounding already has broad community support.

“Our job is to listen to constituents and make the decisions,” Moss said.

Segurola dismissed the survey. “It was a few hundred people at best,” he said, adding respondents had no information about costs and financing when answering Village pollsters.

Tuesday’s vote doesn’t rule out the possibility of a public vote, however, because a referendum would be legally required in some financing scenarios. One of those would be a general obligation bond, which requires voter approval.

Moss said he hasn’t made up his mind about whether the Village should seek such a bond, which is just one of several ways the project could be financed. At the Council’s strategic retreat earlier this month, members said they may consider a larger bond that could combine several resiliency projects, including undergrounding.

The undergrounding project is on pause as the Council awaits more information on Senate Bill 796, which is awaiting action by Gov. Ron DeSantis. The bill would establish a new financing method for underground utilities, and Key Biscayne is hoping to be placed near the top of the list by Florida Power & Light. But even if FPL buries power lines by charging ratepayers more, it’s not clear what happens to telecommunications lines.

Council Member Ed London said that while the Village has been told wooden poles carrying both power and telecommunications are owned by AT&T, he has asked public works officials to verify the ownership and learn more about how communications services would be handled if FPL buries its lines.