23 Street light placement; Fiscal management;Public safetyCITY 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
FISCAL NOTES:
The City has 2,224 street lights in our system, costing approximately $380,300 for FY 2008-2009. New
street lights, depending upon the size and type of fixture, cost $14.93 -$32.99 per month (46 percent are
$20.44/month).
REVIEWED AND APPROVED BY:
E Administration Z City Clerk ❑ Community Development ❑ EMS/IT ❑ Finance ❑ Fire
❑ Municipal Court ❑ Legal ❑ Library Z Police ❑ Eng./Public Works ❑ Utilities
City of Paris
Revised 2/04/08
" OllO238
Street Light Placement Study
Methodology:
251 Miles - Total Linear mileage of atl streets in the city of Paris, maintained by the Street
Department or Texas Department of Transportation.
20,128 - Total calls for service, officer Initiated or from complaints May 1, 2008 through January
31, 2009 between the hours of 6 PM and 6 AM.
9075 - Total calls for service after removing call activity that would not be affected by
additional street lighting; traffic stops, false alarms, civil stand by, animal calls, 9-1-1
hang-ups, assist fire or EMS, message delivery, administrative tasks.
36.15 - Average calls for service by linear mile.
.006846 - Average calls for service by linear foot.
3.42 - Average calls for service per 500 feet. Present required distance between street lights
paid for by the City of Paris.
Random sampling of calls for service on other primarily residential streets were kept in the address
range of 300-499 due to all of the streets listed being in close proximity to arterial or feeder designated
roadways. Primarily commercial, industrial, and agricultural areas were intentionally not included in the
random sampling but were included in the linear foot computations.
4- Number of calls for service from addresses from 300 to 499 on NE 5`h Street between
the hours of 6 PM to 6 AM, meeting above criteria for calls.
1- Number of calls for service from addresses from 300 to 499 on NW 7th Street between
the hours of 6 PM to 6 AM, meeting above criteria for calls.
0- Number of calls for service from addresses from 300 to 499 on SE 10th Street between
the hours of 6 PM to 6 AM, meeting above criteria for calls.
7- Number of calls for service from addresses from 300 to 499 on NE 12`h Street between
the hours of 6 PM to 6 AM, meeting above criteria for calls.
5- Number of calls for service from addresses from 300 to 499 on SE 24th Street between
the hours of 6 PM to 6 AM, meeting above criteria for calls.
U 002.3
2- Number of calls for service from addresses from 300 to 499 on NE 16th Street between
the hours of 6 PM to 6 AM, meeting above criteria for calis.
2- Number of calls for service from addresses from 300 to 499 on SW 17th Street between
the hours of 6 PM to 6 AM, meeting above criteria for calls.
Present request for street (ight in the 300-400 block of NE 2"d Street:
21- Number of calls for service from addresses from 300 to 499 on NE 2"d Street between
the hours of 6 PM to 6 AM, meeting above criteria for calls.
Conclusions:
The 300-499 address range of NE 2"d Street has 21 actual calls for service, a little more than six times the
average of 3.42 calls for service per 500 feet for the entire city.
This methodology does not count for variables such as number of residential structures in the
address range listed, occupancy of those structures, and other ambient light sources such as privately
owned security lighting. The data used for these computations will change. The data used included calls
for service in a 9 month operational period. Since calls for service can fluctuate from year to year,
further evaluation would have to be conducted when a full year of data is available, and subsequent
years after that.
In looking at the other random residential areas checked for calls for service, a policy of establishing a
minimum of 6 or more times the average calls for service in a given 500 feet range or address range
would suggest the addition of a street light and the additional city expense of operating a street light.
Additional lighting can help in deterring criminal activity.
Bob Hundley
Interim Chief of Police
. 000240
COUNCIL MEMBER AGENDA ITEM REQUEST
Please complete this form if you wish to have an item placed on the agenda for a City Council
meeting. To allow adequate time to prepare packets and to coincide with staff's deadline for
items, the due date for placing an item on the agenda is noon Thursday, 12 days prior to the
regular meetings on the second and fourth Monday of each month (i.e. the Thursday immediately
following a regular Monday meeting). In order for your fellow Council Members to fully
understand your item, have productive discussion, ensure efficient council meetings, and for staff
to be able to assist you as completely as possible, it is important that you describe the item with
as much detail as possible and include any supporting documentation so that it may be included
in the Council's meeting packets. Please return this completed form to the City Manager and
contact the City Clerk at (903) 784-9248 if you have any questions.
Council member making request:
❑ Will Biard
Joe McCarthy
❑ Steve Brown
❑ Edwin Pickle
❑ Jesse Freelen
❑ Rhonda Rogers
❑ Kevin Kear
Description of Item:
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Are additional sheets or supporting materials attached? ❑ Yes ❑ No
I request that this item be placed on the agenda for the:
❑ City Council meeting on this date: /
❑ Sometime in the next 2 meetings
❑ No specific time in mind - just keep it on a list of pending issues
Signature:
Date:
City of Paris Revised 11/19/08
0 G[?024z
COUNCIL MEMBER AGENDA ITEM REQUEST
Please complete this form if you wish to have an item placed on the agenda for a City Council
meeting. To allow adequate time to prepare packets and to coincide with staff's deadline for
items, the due date for placing an item on the agenda is noon Thursday, 12 days prior to the
regular meetings on the second and fourth Monday of each month (i.e. the Thursday immediately
following a regular Monday meeting). In order for your fellow Council Members to fully
understand your item, have productive discussion, ensure efficient council meetings, and for staff
to be able to assist you as completely as possible, it is important that you describe the item with
as much detail as possible and include any supporting documentation so that it may be included
in the Council's meeting packets. Please return this completed form to the City Manager and
contact the City Clerk at (903) 784-9248 if you have any questions.
Council member making request:
❑ 7SStevvee , iard ❑ Joe McCarthy
Brown ❑ Edwin Pickle
❑ Jesse Freelen ❑ Rhonda Rogers
❑ Kevin Kear
Description of Item: S+ pw 4' ?~*o ~15
Are additional sheets or supporting materials attached? ❑ Yes ❑ No
I request that this item be placed on the agenda for the:
❑ Ci ,C`ouncil meeting on this date:
Sometime in the next 2 meetings
❑ o specific time in mind - just keep it on a list of pending issues
Signature: Date:
City of Paris r21x-) Revised 11/19/08
_