By Elizabeth Cloutman

Several Los Altos Hills city councils in recent years have sought to place all major utility underground. Mayor Toni Casey has called undergrounding one of her “Top 10″ goals.

Thursday night, council members heard a proposal - developed after 2 1/2 years of research by the Utility and Information Systems Committee - that might make that goal a reality. Council Member Mike O’Malley called the proposal “unique. We will be pioneers.”

The proposal, as presented by committee chairman Amir Rosenbaum, would mean the town would assume the cost of undergrounding. It would then deed the underground utility lines to Pacific Gas and Electric Co., which would be responsible for their maintenance. PG&E would bear the expense of tearing down existing utility poles.

However, the plan faces major hurdles before the council can even begin to seriously consider it.

First, PG&E must be willing to cooperate with the town government. Second, because residents would be expected to bear the cost of placing utilities underground, officials must also iron out the legal details of creating an assessment district.

The council requested City Manager Maureen Cassingham and City Attorney Sandy Sloan to do further investigation and report their findings in the coming months.

The plan, as proposed, would place all major utility lines in layers in single trenches. The undergrounding process would also include placing empty conduits in the trenches. The conduits could accommodate the fiber-optic lines of future providers, such as competing DSL companies, Rosenbaum said.

If approved, the proposal would probably achieve undergrounding in a shorter time period and at less expense to residents than if done by individual subdivisions. “We estimate it would cost about $50 million - about $18,000 per household -and take five to ten years to complete,” Rosenbaum said.

“We definitely take the approach of working with them. PG&E owns and maintains the utility poles and leases them to Pacific Bell and AT&T,” said committee member Andy Colman.

The underground lines would be built to the company’s specifications, he said.

Those lines already underground exist only because residents have done so in the process of remodeling or rebuilding on their properties, Colman said. All major utility lines remain on poles.

Of PG&E’s three options that met company regulations, the committee recommended contracting the work.

“We can do it at our own pace rather than relying on (PG&E),” he said.