It's happening bit by bit, almost imperceptibly, but the hallmarks of power are gradually vanishing throughout Ketchum's downtown core.
Power lines, that is.
The point of this power struggle is, indeed, to bury the charged infrastructure beneath the city's streets and alleys, to remove unsightly electricity transmission lines from view.
"The city's been very busy with burying power lines the last five years," said Ketchum City Administrator Ron LeBlanc.
The burying of power lines was made possible by a renegotiated franchise agreement with Idaho Power, which was finalized in 2001. The negotiation took four years, a period during which a franchise agreement with the power provider was non-existent. Under the new agreement, Ketchum began charging Idaho Power a fee, and the proceeds from that fee are helping fund burial of electricity lines and elimination of power poles.
Nearly all power lines in the city's southwest quadrant have been buried, with two exceptions. During a walking tour of the downtown Monday, LeBlanc marveled at how much better the southwest neighborhoods look.
"It looks great," he beamed.
Along with replacing old water pipes throughout the downtown, a process being funded by a 2006 bond election, two primary infrastructure goals are on their way toward completion. This summer, water pipes throughout the western portion of the downtown core will be replaced. Among the old pipes are wooden conduits that were part of the old Ketchum Spring system, which the city acquired in 1980.
The old pipes are being replaced with PVC pipes, and they should last 80 years.
"This is really exciting," LeBlanc said. "This has been four to five years of getting the underground infrastructure into place.
"With these two tools in place we can now finance the projects we've always wanted to do. Now people are going to start seeing some really neat stuff, street scaping, street lighting and traffic improvements."
While the burial of power lines is somewhat sporadic—hinging on new development and money as it comes in—the water pipes can be replaced more predictably.
"We control 100 percent of the water, and on the power, we have to wait for an opportunity when development occurs," LeBlanc said. "We just pick them off in small areas, a block here and a block there depending on scheduled development."
This spring, power lines will vanish from Rivers Street. They will also vanish in the foreseeable future from the alley connecting the Lane Mercantile building with the Coffee Grinder.
"The most obvious advantage is the aesthetic benefit, so we're not obstructing any of these beautiful views with poles and wires," LeBlanc said. "But in addition there are practical and safety reasons. Each of those poles takes up space in a sidewalk. It obstructs people. It obstructs handicap accessibility."
Power lines throughout the downtown should be gone in seven to 10 years. By 2008, all water pipes will be replaced.
Photo by Greg Stahl
