Council headed for showdown over Lathrop Ave. lights

The City Council is headed for a showdown over six street lights on Lathrop Ave.

Alderman Aron Wisneski appeared before the council's Finance and Personnel Committee Monday night hoping to secure $16,250 for six decorative light poles in the 700, 800 and 900 blocks of Lathrop Ave. The poles would match the lights installed on Orchard and Russet streets one and two blocks to the west.

The city's Public Works Department intends to install standard new lights on the street, which are the basic black poles used throughout the city. Here's a breakdown of the lights in question (there are taken from city records; we didn't add the labels):

These are the lights that need to be replaced. According to residents,
the lights haven't worked for over a year.

The type of light proposed for Lathrop Ave.

The type of light residents want installed, but will cost the city $16,250.
You can see more detailed photos of the lights here.

Wisneski and about 10 residents attended the meeting to make a case for the decorative poles, which in addition to cost an additional $16,250, are also less efficient than the standard poles (though the decorative lights are far more efficient than the current poles and only slightly less efficient than the standard poles). That would cost the city an estimated $200 per year in lost energy savings.

Their main argument was this section of Lathrop Ave. should be included in the Manree Park historic neighborhood and receive the historic looking lights. But the street isn't included in the district, and that left them with the standard lights.

They took their case to the Public Works Committee and got approval to install the historic lights. But the Public Works Committee sent them to the finance committee to find money for the lights. Members of the finance committee were skeptical.

Alderman Mike Shields, who sits on the Finance Committee, outright opposed the request, saying he wouldn't support spending city money on the lights. He called the proposal "fiscally irresponsible" and made a motion to reject the request. The motion failed for lack of a second.

Alderman Bob Anderson backed Wisneski's request, but Alderman Q.A. Shakoor II said he wasn't comfortable voting until he had more information. He motioned to send the proposal to a Committee of the Whole meeting (that's the entire City Council meeting as a committee) to discuss the request, which he said could set precedent for other areas of the city.

Alderman Jim Spangenberg, chairman of the committee, was non-committal. But he did point out sections of his district are near an historic area, but still had standard lights installed. He also wondered where the money would come from for the lights. Kathleen Fischer, assistant finance director, said the money would come out of the city's reserve fund.

One option not discussed by the committee was the city staff's recommendation to consider charging residents a special assessment to cover the additional cost of the lights.

The committee voted 2-1 to pass Shakoor's resolution and recommend sending the proposal to Committee of the Whole. Shakoor and Shields voted yes; Anderson no. Spangenberg, as chairman, didn't vote.

The committee's decision sets up a debate at next Tuesday's City Council meeting over the proposal. The Public Works Committee supported the decorative lights and it seems likely that Wisneski and Anderson would support dipping into the city's reserves to cover the upgrade. The council could vote next week to approve the lights, send the issue to committee or simply vote it down.

It'll be interesting to see how the council proceeds.

A couple more notes ...

Anticipating comments about wasting time on small issues like lights, this is important to residents. Forty-four residents on Lathrop or nearby streets signed a petition asking for the historic lights, and about 10 turned out for Monday night's meeting. One resident stood up Monday night and said she'd rather the city wait a year and install nothing rather than put in the standard poles, which they feel will detract from the street. This matters to people. Now, whether it fits with the city's budget is for the council to decide. But it certainly seems worth their time.

The city spends about $1.2 million a year lighting its streets. Stimulus money to install LED high-efficiency lights should help control that number, which had been jumping close to 10 percent a year in recent years. Spangenberg said he recalls not long ago the number being close to $400,000.

Anyone know why it's called Manree Park? If so, post in the comments. If you want to see more names for Racine's neighborhoods, check out this map that includes areas in the city such as: Westown Heights, Maple Grove, Slausondale and Garden City.