Council to look at outage claims

Burlingame city officials are considering the claims filed by three restaurants that lost business when power went out on Valentine's Day following a freak mishap in which a man shocked himself on an electrified fence.

The incident happened about 7 p.m. when the man came into contact with a fence around the Burlingame Caltrain station and shocked himself. Pacific Gas & Electric responded to the incident and shut down the power grid for safety reasons, spokesman Joe Molica said. Power reportedly did not return to many nearby restaurants and businesses until about 10 p.m.

PG&E determined that steel rebar at the construction site was touching a city streetlight and somehow became electrified, Molica said. The rebar was also touching the fence and passed along the current. The city and Caltrain are pointing blame at each other for the incident; the city faults Caltrain for the construction material that acted as a lightening rod between a circuit and a fence, while Caltrain blames the city for faulty equipment.

Italian eatery Stella Alpina Osteria on Primrose Road filed a $9,900 claim against the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, which oversees Caltrain. Grace Garden Restaurant and Juban Yakiniku House each filed $2,500 claims against the board.

"It was Valentine's Day, it was very busy," said Grace Garden owner Steve Chao. "Everybody left."

Grace Garden kept its staff around for up to 40 minutes, but Chao said the power was not restored when he left at 1:30 a.m. the following morning. He estimated that he lost $1,000 in business and another $1,500 in spoiled food.

"I lost a lot of money ... nobody cares about the small business," Chao said.

Stella Alpina Osteria owner Alisa Ferrari and the board officials declined to comment.

PG&E would not disclose the name of five other businesses that filed claims against the power company.

City Attorney Larry Anderson said the claims filed against the board were forwarded to Burlingame, and the city wants to sit down and resolve it with the board and PG&E. Anderson said he is trying to arrange a meeting with PG&E and the board, and it is possible that all three could chip in to settle the claims.

"Hopefully we will have something by the end of September or the first of October," Anderson said.

Council members will discuss the matter during a closed meeting Monday night.