Mailbag: Undergrounding study could waste taxpayer money

Re. “Mailbag: Benefit of underground utilities is not the question” (Mailbag, April 20): David Ballard’s letter to the editor heaps scorn on Newport Heights parcel owners who don’t think undergrounding of power lines is a peachy keen idea, while avoiding a number of points.

The “petition” he refers to, whatever its origin, if certified by the city, will trigger a feasibility study. This study will cost $400,000 for Assessment District 118, an area encompassing roughly 500 parcels. A concurrent petition for the other part of Newport Heights, Assessment District 114, an area of 250 parcels, will also cost $400,000.

Leaving aside for another discussion the ridiculous cost of these studies, some opponents regard this step as primarily a tool to determine how much to charge the parcel owners. The consequent election campaign will further divide what heretofore has been a pleasant, downright convivial, neighborhood.

I see

a lot wrong with undergrounding and, even more, with how the city has gone about trying to convince parcel owners that spending $25,000 each to make it happen is a good idea.

It is not, as Mr. Ballard says, “The right thing to do.”

Opponents, in addition to rejecting the notion that they should shoulder the cost of what is little more than an aesthetic enhancement, are concerned that a process designed to validate decisions the city has already made, but doesn’t want to pay for, is being presented as an open, transparent exercise. That is not what is happening.

To say the contrarian perspective is the pique of one person, as Ballard asserts, trivializes the concerns of parcel owners and puts the city at risk of tossing $800,000 out the window. All of Newport Beach should be concerned about that.

Lynda Adams

Newport Beach

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Costa Mesa council is overspending

The Costa Mesa City Council recently voted to convert the old 1,625-square-foot print shop in City Hall into a new community meeting room at a cost of $990,000 (“Split council approves City Hall upgrades,” April 22).

Rather than working on replenishing the general reserves lost during the Great Recession, this council continues to squander taxpayer money with reckless abandon.

To put things in perspective, $900,000 is enough money to buy a comfortable 1,600-square-foot house on a nice lot. Perhaps a better use of the money would be the purchase of a new, state-of-the-art printer, the type that can print crisp, new $20 bills in large numbers, because when the next recession hits, the poor council members will look back in dismay at the fiscally irresponsible council of 2015.

Al Melone

Costa Mesa

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Newport scholarship winners

We ought to give our thanks to the 35 students who were recognized at the scholarship awards dinner because they exemplify excellence in both academics and activities. However, we should not forget all the other outstanding young people in our area who also benefit us with their good efforts and good citizenship. Many thanks to all our young people .

Al Wonders

Newport Beach