23 Street light placement; Fiscal management;Public safety

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CITY COUNCIL AGENDA ITEM BRIEFING SHEET Submittal Date: Originating Department: Presented By: Agenda Item No.: 03/02/2009 Council Date: Police Interim Chief Hundley 23. 03/09/2009 RECOMMENDED MOTION: Move to add to the existing street light policy of placing street lights at street intersections or, in the absence of an intersection, approximately every 500 feet to include a security standard authorizing placement of street lights on an existing pole in areas of at least six times the average number of police calls for service per 500 feet over the preceding 12 months. PoLicY ISSUE(s): Street light placement; Fiscal management; Public safety BACKGROUND: Street lights are used almost exclusively by communities to enhance safety for the motoring public, not security since security is usually considered the responsibility of the property owner. As it is with most cities, Paris' longstanding policy for the placement of street lights (excluding the central business district), is at street intersections or (in the absence of an intersection) approximately every 500 feet. The City receives several requests throughout the year for street lights to improve security at the requested location (with deregulation electric companies no longer provide security lights for the public) and these requests have been denied if they did not meet the warrants of the policy. There is a public interest, however, in providing street lights to improve security if an area has demonstrated a significantly higher than average rate of crimes, over an extended period, of the type that could be impacted by improved lighting (i.e. it is cheaper to pay a monthly rental fee for a street light and reduce calls for service than to repeatedly send police officers to the same location). To provide an objective process for evaluating requests for street lights based on security, the Police Department developed a formula linking the miles of streets to the average number of police calls for service down to a 1 foot distance. The calls for service averaged were those occurring between the hours of 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. involving incidents that additional lighting could have been a deterrent. Those calculations revealed an average of 3.42 calls per 500 feet, the present required distance for street lights. Since these calculations produce averages, and other variables can be involved, it is recommended the policy have a factor over twelve months of at least six times the average number of calls provided by this process for recommending placement of street lights. Additionally, it is also recommended that requests be limited to areas where there is an existing pole so that the City would not be responsible for paying for a new pole or the extension of service lines. BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION: EXHIBITS: Methodology ACTION: BUDGET INFO: ❑ Financial Report Z Minute Order Expense $ ❑ Department Report ❑ Resolution Budgeted Amt. $380,300 ❑ Presentation ❑ Ordinance y'I'D Actual $176,609.75 ❑ Public Hearing ❑ Other Acct. Name Electricity Acct. Number 01-0308-48-00 City of Paris Revised 2/04/08 000237