Dozens of utility lines in downtown Indio will soon be moved underground as major renovations begin Monday.

A two-block portion of Miles Avenue and other streets will also shut down until December as part of an overall $25 million downtown renovation project.

The cost includes $3.4 million for utility and street improvements.

In anticipation of the work, the Indio City Council this past week created a Downtown Underground Utility District encompassing 80 acres and 230 properties. City officials approved the district by urgency ordinance, and said it was needed to ask the utility companies — Imperial Irrigation District, Verizon and Time Warner Cable — to pay at least a portion of the construction costs.

City officials say they are still negotiating how much money they will seek from the utility companies.

Councilman Ben Godfrey said it was important to get the funding from the utility companies.

“We would like to get help from the utilities to restore their wires,” Godfrey said.

A spokesman for Imperial Irrigation District said the utility company two months ago agreed to pay the city a yet-to-be determined percentage of the project.

“It's a fairly expensive proposition for IID, but the fact that the city and (IID) are approaching it collectively is healthy in our perspective,” said IID spokesman Kevin Kelley.

Godfrey said moving the utilities underground improves the aesthetics of the city and decreases any maintenance problems.

He said parts of downtown have wires overhead that can can cause hazards if they fall during an earthquake.

Indio is following other cities such as Palm Desert that are moving their utilities underground, Godfrey said.

“The trend is to underground all new future wiring and utilities and that is the way to go,” he said.

Indio City Councilman Mike Wilson initially voted against the ordinance. He said the decision seemed rushed.

He made a motion to review the plan in study session, but it failed.

After the mayor said the utility district had previously been discussed, Wilson made a motion to have the ordinance reconsidered and it was approved unanimously.

Mayor Lupe Ramos Watson and Mayor Pro Tem Melanie Fesmire own property in the district and would normally have recused themselves from the vote, officials said.

However, the urgency ordinance required a four-fifths vote, so a coin toss determined Watson would vote and Fesmire would abstain.

Burying the utilities will take about 18 months, officials said.

The project begins with Miles Avenue between Oasis and Towne streets and on to Smurr Street, said Mariano Aguirre, city development manager.

Properties within the district are not expected to lose power and will remain open during construction, said Mark Wasserman, assistant to the Indio city manager.

More streets will close as renovations, including the utility work, continue, Aguirre said.