September 26, 2025
Alex Rounaghi, Mayor, City of Laguna Beach
Members of City of Laguna Beach City Council.
Subject: Fairview/La Brea Street Utility Undergrounding Assessment District 2021-3 City Contribution to Project Costs
Dear Mayor and City Council Members,
In 2021, City Council approved petitions to begin formation of the Fairview/La Brea Underground Utility Assessment District. (2021-3) and allocated funding for design/engineering. The Planning Commission, Dec. 2024, approved Design Review for the project and the formation of the district has progressed covering 90 properties.
The initial estimate for the project cost per our preliminary engineering report dated September 26, 2025, is $4,776, 779.91. As team leads, we feel confident we have a good majority supporting the project; but we could use the City’s help to get us to the finish line.
Following the precedent of prior districts, we would hope the city will contribute an additional 10% of the project costs on top of the General Benefit 10%. Our La Brea neighbors have had wires come down on their homes twice during past high winds and the fire safety advantages our district will bring the city, along with precedent, make this request a very reasonable one. Also, narrow alleys with existing poles and transformers are located extremely close to some homes. Our neighborhood is not far from open space to the east and will help harden the infrastructure and have continuous underground utilities up to Coast Hwy. We hope you will support the efforts to mitigate risks.
We appreciate the City Council’s continued support and for your consideration of our 20% total contribution request. Neighbors will be much more likely to support the project with this help. We hope to be given some relief to the rising bond costs and the escalating costs of materials and labor these utilities are putting into their bids. Our average cost per property is $53,075. With an additional 10% from the city our average price drops below $50K which is the amount we had targeted from the onset.
We would be available to meet with any City Council member or City staff to discuss this further. We hope we can get a vote from you to support our project.
Sincerely,
Fairview/La Brea Team Leaders
Carrie Reynolds (200 Block Fairview St.) Jeff Randolph (100 Block La Brea) John Vogt (Lower 200 Block La Brea St.) Mark Gold (Upper 200 Block La Brea) Kristin and Doug Allison (Upper 200 Block La Brea)
Attachment 5
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