Ricardo Salcedo P.E. has been named the City of Berkeley Project Manager for the Grizzly Peak/Summit Utility Undergrounding District (UUD48). Mr. Salcedo recently provided the following comments on the UUD48 project:
"· Final Design: PG&E and the utility companies are nearly there with the final design of the project. There are a couple of retaining wall locations which need changes to incorporate some concerns from property owners. We are targeting early December for design completion.
· Permits: PG&E submitted draft permits applications from PG&E and City staff performed initial review of the applications. We’ll be going to council in January to waive the permit fees as required by PG&E’s agreement to perform the work.
· Permanent Easements: The City retained the services of Contra Costa County’s Real Estate Services for easement acquisition services. The County has completed the appraisals and will be sending out easement offer letters soon. With offers on the table, the City will immediately begin negotiating with property owners. Council approval for easement acquisition is scheduled for January, but PG&E has indicated that they are willing to bid the project out prior to this council date as long as property owners have shown willingness to negotiate.
· Temporary Construction Easements: TCEs will be mailed out to residents in the coming days and will be a major topic of discussion at an upcoming community meeting in scheduled now for December.
· Lighting: Residents were given the opportunity to vote on their preferred lighting fixture type. Ballots were mailed and results were tallied. A downlight type (cobra head) was the preferred fixture type and will be the one installed in the district.
· Construction: On track to begin in April/May 2020."
2020 appears to be the year that real physical progress will happen for UUD48.
Let's do all we can to ensure the project's total success.