Light Work for City Treasury: Stimulus Funds Paying for New Street Lamps

Lake Murray Boulevard was finished about a week and a half ago.  On Monday, Mike Plewe of Republic ITS began hitting other intersections in town—Fletcher Parkway near the Albertson’s market, Bancroft Drive and Lemon Avenue, Spring Street and Lemon, for starters.

Operating a lift truck by himself—controlled from the bucket—Plewe wore a hard hat, heavy gloves and military style camouflage pants as he replaced some of the city’s hundreds of high-pressure sodium street lights—some weighing 35 pounds— with energy saving induction lights.

Cost of the upgrade: $506,220.

Cost to the city: $0.

Source of the money is a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, also know as the federal stimulus.  The City Council OK’d the hiring of Republic ITS in September 2010, and the 2011-2013 preliminary city budget—approved last week—notes a $42,000 decline in the amount budgeted from the first year to the second in the traffic engineering portion of the Public Works budget.

“Most of the increase is offset by a reduction in the amount budgeted for electricity based on the anticipated savings from the installation of induction street lighting,” says the budget summary.

As red MTS trolleys roared past, Plewe said 56 La Mesa intersections would get new lights, averaging four lights per intersection—or 224. The entire job is expected to take two weeks, with another Republic workman involved.

A La Mesa resident for eight years, Plewe said he’s been a street light installer for 20. But Plewe might not get another chance to replace street lights here, however. 

He said the new lights can last 26 years.