PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The city's capital plan calls for the replacement of 5,236 street lights to LEDs but some councilors are wondering why a project to light up Tyler Street has not been undertaken.

 

The Tyler Street Business Group petitioned the city in 2014 asking for lights on the north side of Tyler Street at an estimated cost of $500,000. Movement halted on those efforts when the city was accepted in the Transformative Development Program. MassDevelopment is currently in the midst of planning efforts for the redevelopment of the entire corridor.

 

This year the administration has asked for $3 million to convert all of the street lights from high-pressure sodium lights to the more efficient light-emitting diodes. That doesn't include any additional lighting on Tyler Street and Councilors Christopher Connell and Kevin Morandi are asking why can't some of that money be used for that project instead.

 

"I really hope we will make it a priority to get the lighting over there," Morandi said, saying it is a safety issue. 

 

Connell asked about solar-powered lights, which could be a more inexpensive project because they wouldn't need underground wiring. He wondered if not only could solar lights be added to Tyler but other areas as well. 

 

Commissioner of Public Services David Turocy said he had a consultant look at solar lighting on Tyler but it isn't feasible. 

 

Meanwhile, Councilor at Large Melissa Mazzeo says there are a number of lights in the city that aren't working because of underground power issues. She doesn't see why the city should change all of the lights that currently work while still leaving some neighborhoods in the dark. She suggested focusing the majority of the capital money on fixing issues on those unlit streets and changing out the other lights more slowly. 

 

Turocy said the capital request isn't intended to solve those underground power issues but the project of changing lights can help diagnose specific areas where those issues exist. 

 

"There are a lot of issues but they aren't quickly solved so they seem to drag out," Turocy said.

 

Pine Ridge Technologies is contracted to maintain the system and some councilors called on the company to do more to address the lingering problems with outages in neighborhoods.

 

"I'd really like to see some of those lighting issues addressed before we put brand-new LEDs on lights that don't need them," Morandi said.

 

The streetlight conversion is the largest portion of the $9.1 million in capital requests to be paid from the city budget. Another $14.4 million would come from enterprise accounts, which are funded from sewer and water fees. In total there is $23.5 million is capital requests for 2018 and then millions more over the next five years.

 

"This is a plan and it is still subject to change as we get closer to filing an operating and capital budget in May," Director of Finance Matthew Kerwood said.

 

The City Council held a public hearing on the five-year plan on Tuesday but had not input from residents. The council weighed in on only a few items. Kerwood said the budget places a significant focus on replacing the vehicles in the highway department. 

 

"It was clear to me, as it has been very clear to them for a long time, that we have not invested for a long time in our DPW fleet and parks fleet," Kerwood said. 

 

The plan calls for numerous vehicle purchases. That includes a new street sweeper for $210,000. 

 

"Right now we can't even get it running for the spring," Turocy said. 

 

Morandi questioned if it would be better to contract street sweeping out. Turocy said he did consider it but the costs were upward of $9,000 a week, which is more expensive than doing it in-house. He said he would like to contract for some work to augment the staff's efforts but it is better for the city to the do the majority.

 

The city is also looking at a project for the McKay Street garage but not with borrowed the money for it. Instead, the city has eyed the revenue from the parking meters to fund repairs to the stairs and the purchase of a new license plate reader for the parking attendants. 

 

A new part of the plan's presentation this year is the identification of sources of revenue. While most of the projects will be funded through borrowing, there are some in which other sources could be used. 

 

The city has already set its sights on using the estimated $386,000 per year from the Community Preservation Act. The act, which was adopted by ballot in the fall is billed to be community driven and the use of the funds are decided by a committee of citizens. The City Council, however, has the ultimate say over the use of the funds.

 

The capital budget already eyes nearly a dozen projects over the next five years to be paid for by those funds. Those include the construction of a dog park, rehabilitation to the Springside House, playground improvements at various parks, and the restoration of the Capitol Marquee on North Street.

 

The five-year plan calls for multiple years of athletic court resurfacing projects in city parks, a particular effort Ward 3 Councilor Nicholas Caccamo has been advocating for over the last few years.

 

"We are creating a systematic approach to resurfacing athletic courts throughout the city," Kerwood said. 

 

A large capital project for 2018 is a $300,000 master plan for the airport. But, the majority of that cost is likely going to be reimbursed by the state Department of Transportation. The city's share is estimated at $15,000.

 

"We don't know whether the funding is 100 percent, 80 percent. We have site plans that still need to be submitted," Airport Manager Gloria Bouillon.

 

That master plan will set the course for the airport's next decade. The last plan was created in 2001 and it is supposed to be redone every seven to 10 years. The process looks at all aspects of the airport and identifies opportunities and deficiencies. Then it looks at all types of projects and alternatives for the development and usage of the land. 

 

"This may be one of the best investments," Bouillon said. 

 

In 2019, there is a capital plan to spend $4.2 million on a renovation of the terminal, which would follow the master plan. The city's share of that is estimated at $212,000. 

 

Connell had just sat on an airport study group looking into the finances of the airport. Recommendations there are eyed to change the annual operating deficit to a positive and Connell questioned the wisdom of investing in capital at this point. Connell said he'd like to see the revenues increase at the airport before investing more into it. 

 

Councilors also questioned a $850,000 project scheduled for 2019 for improvements to Clapp Park. Recently a group of citizens joined together to rename the baseball field in honor of former coach Buddy Pellerin and has raised money for repairs. They've put in a new scoreboard and fencing went up in the last few weeks. Councilors why $850,000 more is needed. 

 

Turocy said the city is looking for a state grant for the work and is hoping to leverage the private funds raised as the match - that would mean the city wouldn't pay anything toward the project is all goes wells. That money would be for improved parking, access, a concession stand, and bathroom repairs. 

 

"It is for the entire Clapp park," Turocy said.

 

The capital plan also calls for $2.5 million in this upcoming year for street repairs. That is consistent with last year's total, but still, falls short of a 2014 consultant report saying the city needs to invest $3.5 million per year on roads. Turocy said he is looking to dedicate a portion of that money each year to sidewalks and bicycle lanes. 

 

"What I like to start here is a program working with complete streets to dedicate a certain percentage of that to sidewalks," Turocy said.

 

That funding also is for funding of streetscape planning for pedestrian areas downtown.

 

Kerwood said the 2018 budget could change in the next week or so before it comes to the council for approval. Connell asked that when Kerwood does present that capital plan to also include a list of vehicles in the water and wastewater departments. Connell had previously voiced concerns over the number of vehicles and the replacement schedule in those departments.

 

"It seems we have more trucks than we do employees," Connell said.