One of our biggest focuses at Scenic Walton is the undergrounding of utilities. We believe it is one of the most important initiatives a city or county or state can pursue to make their communities more resilient to storms and other disasters, protect citizens and wildlife from the risks of overhead utilities, allow for the planting of more trees along roadways, and make places more beautiful without the intrusiveness of overhead poles and wires. While all new development in the county is required to put the utilities underground, there are many roadways and neighborhoods that have them overhead. We encouraged the Board of County Commissioners to pursue a countywide undergrounding initiative, and they responded by asking us to work with Jeff Goldberg, director of the county’s Emergency Management Department to bring them a plan for the county. A working group comprised of representatives from all of the utility companies, county and city staff, community representatives including Leigh Moore from our team, and a representative from Scenic America will begin meeting in May to put together the proposed plan. More to come as this exciting initiative develops!

Utility crews after Hurricane Michael