Mayor Elizabeth Patterson wants the Benicia City Council to discuss and possibly draft a resolution to support the removal of telephone cables beneath the city. The mayor will bring this topic up at tonight’s City Council meeting.
This item on the council agenda came into fruition due to concerns about the old phone cables in the city. According to an item agenda request sheet sent to the City Council, during the past 100 years the military and phone companies have installed lead sheathed cables within many of Benicia’s infrastructure. This practice of installing lead sheathed cables has gone away for the installation of fiber optic cables. There is a fear these older cables have or are deteriorating and have began leaking lead into the water supply and soil.
“The best way to protect our citizens from this omnipresent danger presented by lead is to remove all known sources of lead from our environment,” according to a sample letter to phone companies that was included in the agenda packet. “Lead sheathed phone cables are a source of lead that leaches into our food and water supply. In a recent study, 86 percent of grape juice specifically made as baby food tested positive for lead.This lethal element is everywhere in our environment, and it is important to get all the sources – direct and potential out of our food chain.”
There will be no financial impact related to Mayor Patterson’s recommendation.  Also on the City Council’s agenda will be the recommendation for the latest bid on the St. Augustine flooding issue. Pfister Excavating, a Bay Area construction company, has put in a $781,810 bid to fix the St. Augustine flooding problem. It has been recommended that the council reject Pfister Excavating bid due to costs and explore other improvement options in resolving the issue.
“The problem is the nearly one million dollar cost estimate from one bidder,” Patterson said in an E-Alert sent to her email subscribers. “There may be a problem with the understanding of the issue.While the past flooding was due to a clogged pipe and other existing stormwater design, the whole problem is increased runoff of storm water due to more impermeable hard surfaces (streets, roofs, etc.) and erosion of stream channels. Residents have been frustrated that some think the issue is more than just potential future flooding due to pipe sizes and storm drains but it is also reducing stormwater runoff and erosion. The city may want to also consider addressing storm water pollution.”
In other business, the council will hear a presentation from the Arts & Culture Commision and Economic Development Board on the findings from the recent Arts and Economic Prosperity Survey.
The The council will meet at 7 p.m., tonighin the Council Chamber of City Hall, 250 East L St. There will be an earlier closed session at 6 p.m.

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