03/24/1975 Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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e e . K. Capital Projects Prqposal - Copies of memo from traffic engineer and city engineer (February 20, 1975) listing recommended capi tal projects tv'ere distributed to Council members with the agenda. Also distributed were copies of street lighting proposal for the central business district. Decrease in cost to the city for installation of railroad crossin'g protection devices because of a shift in fund- ing at the Federal level and a decrease in actual cost of some general fund capital projects made available $125,000 in capital improvement money. Staff recommended $80,000 of that for bike projects, and $45,000 for amortization of street lighting in connection with proposed upgrading of some downtown peripheral lighting between the central district and adjacent residential areas. . Manager noted the general satisfaction with the high-level lighting in the central business district but problems Iv'ith adjacent areas, especially for those parking in the peripheral areas and walking to the business district after dark. He explained the proposal for lowering the level of intensity of the lighting but using high level poles for better diffusion and lower cost in amount of energy used and fewer poles. There were negotiations with the Eugene Water & Electric Board, he said, with regard to reimbursement to them for investment in existing lighting, credit to be given the city for salvage value of poles, and credit to be given if the poles were reused. Councilman Hurray thOllght the street lighting would be inf luenccd by the com- munity development program, especially w.ithin the boundaries of neighborhood improvement areas. He thought decision should be postponed at least in those areas tvhere street l.ighting could be co-ordinated wi th the development programs. Manager noted that the neighborhood to the west of the central business district would be the one most likely to be affected by the community development program. Traffic F:ngineer had no "hang up" about. holding off on that particular area, but he said he would like to have some direction from Council whether the concept presented was appropriate. He said if the city was to continue authorizing in- stallations based on present lighting standards, any policy change later would force reimbursement to E~EB of costs not amortized when the change was made. He cited l4th Avenue area as an example of the type of lighting proposed and its favorable acceptance. In response to Mayor Anderson, Traffic Engineer said if the Council decided to adopt the lighting standards proposed there would be no problem with delaying action on installation until decisions were made with regard to the community de~ velopment program. Councilman Williams said he was comfortable with the proposed lighting standards as a pOlicy matter in view of satisfaction with the present type of lighting in the downtown area. He said there was no question the high rise lights were more efficient in use of energy and better from a public safety standpoint. Traffic Engineer named areas of high- and low-rise lighting for Counciman Bradley. He also designated areas having different lighting intens.ity. He said the light- ing at the Willamette and Donald intersection was different from what was being proposed here, that there had been objection to lighting at that intersection be- cause it didn't give a good color. The present lighting on the mall and that proposed here, he said, was the closest to normal daylight. Councilman Haws said there were areas where there were no street lights, and with a limited amount of money he wondered what the priorities were for installing lights. Traffic Engineer explained the procedure for installation of street lights and said that every intersection in the city for which a light had been requested now was lighted. He said lights had not been installed at intersections where a number of people living in the vicinity had objected. There is money available in the normal budgeting process, he said, to take care of normal street lighting requests throughout the year, that program would not be affected by this 3/24/75 - 11 \4\.