Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: UTILITY BOX PAINTING PROJECT
Date: March 12, 2024
Written by: Henry Babits, Engineering Technician
Recommendation
It is recommended the City of Cotati City Council by Motion approve the Utility Box Painting Pilot Project for one city-owned utility box, authorizing the City Manager to execute an agreement with Ray White to complete the mural for the Utility Box Painting Pilot Project subject to approval as to form by the City Attorney, and receive input on a proposed annual Utility Box Painting Program.
Background
Electrical utility boxes, typically serving traffic signals, transformers, or irrigation controllers, are considered unsightly especially as they become the target of vandalism. To address this, City staff have investigated what neighboring cities have done. Many other municipalities have adopted utility box painting projects where local artists work with the municipalities to create murals to cover the boxes. This engages the local art community, allowing them to participate in public art that represents the City’s character and citizen interests while beautifying objects that are often unattractive. Therefore, City staff is proposing Cotati have one traffic control utility box within the downtown specific plan area painted, as a pilot project.
Analysis/Discussion
Several cities in the region have programs to hire local artists to paint utility boxes with the dual purpose of enhancing the area with public art that creates a unique look for the city while reducing the cost of removing graffiti from frequently vandalized utility boxes. The Town of Windsor has a program called “Discovering Windsor through Art” for painting utility boxes, the City of San Rafael has a Utility Box Art Program, and the City of Napa has a Utility Box Art Wrap project for their downtown area.
Absent an existing program and to get things started, City Staff sent notice to the art departments at Sonoma State University and Santa Rosa Junior College which were in turn forwarded by faculty to students in the art programs. City Staff received a response from a Sonoma State University student named Ray White, a Junior in the Art Program who sent in the attached portfolio of work to be considered for the Pilot Project.
Staff selected two candidate traffic control utility boxes for the pilot project; one located at E Cotati Ave and Old Redwood Hwy (Location 1) and the other at Commerce Blvd and Old Redwood Highway (Location 2). A map and photographs of the boxes are shown on the attachments. The proposed mural is to cover the entirety of the utility box. A total of ten traffic control boxes were located in the City limits, but note that the utility boxes shown along Highway 116 and at West Sierria/US 101 are Caltrans owned and not part of the proposed program at this time.
Traffic control utility boxes on City maintained streets are generally city owned; therefore, no approval is required from an external utility company. However, the City would execute an agreement with the artist for completion of the Utility Box Painting Pilot Project to ensure the City obtains all rights necessary related to the artwork.
Attached is a figure showing traffic utility boxes within the City. Ray White has been provided with the dimensions of the utility box to plan the correct amount of materials needed to provide an accurate cost. The mural will serve as a pilot project to gauge public reception and guide the development of a Cotati utility box expression program.
An option for the Program, which will be evaluated, is to solicit artists through an application process, similar to the Town of Windsor’s Program, and present the applicants to the Planning Commission for approval. In any case, the intent is for the artwork to be family friendly and nonpolitical so that it serves a beautification purpose. Therefore, this will be a fundamental criterion for any proposed artwork. If the program is successful and the City opts to extend the pilot into a full program, it would be presented as a page on the City’s website and have resources (i.e. application, map, schedule, City contacts), and highlight past and current artists and their artwork.
Financial Considerations
The City would provide the painting supplies for an actual amount not to exceed $150. These funds would come out of the City’s operations budget for street landscaping. Staff has not conducted any outreach, at this time, to solicit donations from local businesses. However, as other cities have had success with donations, Staff would pursue donations as part of a future program.
Environmental Issues
This action is found to qualify for a Class 1 Categorical Exemption under CEQA Section 15301 in that the project consists of the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of the existing or former use.