City Takes on Street Light Bills

Officials Look To Switch To LED

— City residents may like having street lights illuminating their neighborhoods, but light comes with a cost.

At A Glance

Springdale City Code On Street Lights

Section 112-4: Street lights must be the most energy efficient provided by the electric utility at the time of installation. Lights can be located at each intersection and along the street at intervals of 300 to 350 feet.

Source: City Of Springdale

The city pays the electric bill with state street turnback money. The money comes from road-use and fuel taxes along with vehicle registration and title fees, according to the Highway and Transportation Department website.

The city budgeted $260,000 for the electric bill for street lights in 2012, said Wyman Morgan, city director of administration and financial services. The 2013 budget, approved Dec. 11 by the City Council, includes $270,000 for the same purpose.

The city is projected to receive $3.27 million in street turnback money in 2012 and $3.13 million in 2013. The money comes to the city on a per capita basis and can only be used for maintenance, construction and reconstruction of city and county roads and bridges, according to the Highway Department.

The City Council voted in November to pick up the bill for the street lights in the Serenity subdivision after the subdivision’s Property Owners Association proved the lights meet the city’s requirements.

The subdivision near the intersection of Don Tyson Parkway and Butterfeld Coach Road was developed beginning in 2006.

“The developer was going to put in gas lanterns,” said Ben Evans, a member of the Serenity POA board. “He went broke, and the new developer switched to standard street lights.”

The city was paying the power bill for identical street lights in other subdivisions, Evans said.

City officials agreed to reimburse the association $3,851 for electricity payments, said Alan Pugh, city engineering coordinator.

“We fell through the cracks,” Evans said. “We went to 10 different departments and got 20 answers. When we went in front of the council, they got it done.”

The city was not notified of the change from gas lanterns, Pugh said. The failure to notify the city left the association to pay the light bill.

People call the city wanting a light installed on dark streets, but the city does not pay for installation of street lights, Morgan said. Residents may be able to pay to have one installed, but the cost can be prohibitive.

“It can be hard to have one installed in some parts of the city, which have been completely developed without street lights,” Morgan said.

In cases where utilities are underground, officials said the cost is very high.

Power companies charge cities per fixture according to a minimum street light tariff, said Peter Main, spokesman for Southwestern Electric Power Company. The tariff charge includes the cost of power and maintenance, he said.

The federal government requires some older fixtures to be replaced with modern, efficient ones, Main said. Those replacements are an extra cost, he said.

Ozark Electric Cooperative also calculate street light bills in a similar manner, said Mitch Styles, co-op spokesman.

The city has used light-emitting diode street lights in recent projects, Pugh said. An energy grant paid for replacement LED lights on Emma Avenue, he said. New street lights along improvements on Elm Springs Road are also LED, he said.

“It gives a brighter, more natural light,” Pugh said.

Those lights are on meters, since power companies have not yet worked out a standard charge for the new style lights, Pugh said.

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