TREASURE ISLAND – City residents who may be irritated or frustrated with constant power outages may see them come to an end in the near future if Treasure Island awards Progress Energy an easement.
During a city commission workshop Oct. 6, a Progress Energy spokesman asked for the city to grant an easement so the utility company can replace a dormant cable that helps supply the city with power.
Currently the city has four cables that supply power to the city from the mainland. However, only three of those cables are working which are somewhat new, less than four years old.
The fourth cable is more than 30 years old and is obsolete and Progress Energy has since shut down the cable. When needed, the Progress Energy uses a fourth cable via John’s Pass to supply energy to the city.
If the city had four strong supplies of energy, so said Progress Energy spokesman Jerry Faustino, many of the constant outages in the Isle of Palm and Isle of Capri area would come to an end.
The current dormant cable originates from near 22nd Avenue North and Park Street in St. Petersburg and goes underwater in Boca Ciega Bay to the island near 115th Street and Ninth Avenue East.
The new cable would originate from 22nd Avenue North and 74th Street in St. Petersburg and stretch to near city hall on Treasure Island.
To complete this project, Progress Energy would need an easement.
“The cable would hold the [power] capacity of several hundred homes on Isle of Palms and Isle of Capri,” Faustino said.
When asked by Commissioner Ed Gayton about the constant power outages and if outages would decrease with the new cable, Faustino said, “This should eliminate those problems.”
If the city would not grant the easement, Progress Energy would be forced to install a cable via John’s Pass, which would be costly.
If an easement is granted, the project could be completed by the second quarter of 2010.
The commission also was concerned about the aspect of the project that would shut down traffic to one lane each way on the Treasure Island Causeway.
Palm trees
Time is running out and so is money for the firm the city contracted with to replace the palm trees lining Paradise Boulevard.
Last year the city thought it had a firm bid from Palm Exchange, but since then that company cannot replace the trees because of a lack of capital.
Public Works Director Jim Murphy noted that time is critical in finding a bidder.
