AGENDA #4h
MEMORANDUM
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TO: |
Roger L. Stancil, Town Manager |
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FROM: |
Brian Curran, Interim Police Chief George Small, P.E., Engineering Director Kumar Neppalli, Engineering Services Manager |
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SUBJECT: |
Response to a Petition Submitted by the UNC Student Body Requesting Street Lighting Improvements and Installation of Emergency Call Boxes in the Downtown Area |
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DATE: |
September 24, 2007 |
PURPOSE
This report responds to a petition submitted by the UNC Student Body requesting street lighting improvements and the installation of emergency call boxes in the downtown area of Chapel Hill.
We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the Manager to accept an $80,000 contribution to the Town from the UNC Student Body for installation of pedestrian-level street lighting improvements ($40,000) and installation of three emergency call boxes ($40,000) in the downtown area of Chapel Hill.
At its March 26, 2007 meeting, the Town Council received a petition (Attachment 1) from the UNC Student Body requesting increased pedestrian-level street lighting and emergency call boxes in the downtown area. The petition notes that student body representatives met with staff from the Town Police Department and Downtown Partnership and developed the following recommendations:
Pedestrian-Level Street Lighting: Town staff reviewed the request and we agree with the recommendation for installation of pedestrian-level street lighting at selected locations in the downtown area of Chapel Hill.
Town staff would develop preliminary street lighting recommendations including locations and types of the lighting and present that information to Duke Energy for development of final plans that could be implemented for $40,000. Funds provided by the UNC Student Body would be used to pay for the one time cost of equipment and installation of the lighting improvements. The Town would be responsible for on-going electricity costs associated with the lighting that can be paid from the Town’s street lighting budget.
Emergency Call Boxes: Staff from the Police Department reviewed the four call box locations recommended by the student body and determined that the following three locations were the highest priority based on incident report records and the complaint database:
The estimated cost of call box installations at the above three locations is approximately $40,000. Once the boxes are installed, the Town would be responsible for the monthly telephone charges associated with the call boxes. The telephone charges would be approximately $42.00 per month per call box. The electricity used by the call boxes does not constitute a significant cost. The calls from the call boxes go directly to the 911 Center and are then dispatched to the appropriate public safety provider.
Call boxes can be purchased to operate using either standard electrical connection or solar-power. The cost of solar powered call boxes is approximately $3,300 more per box than standard electrically operated boxes. We believe that three boxes of either type could be installed for $40,000 and to the extent practicable, we will install the solar-powered call boxes.
We make a note that the recommended street lighting and call boxes will be installed within the public right-of-way.
Town staff met with student body representatives and discussed the above recommendations. Agreement was reached to distribute the funds ($80,000) equally between lighting and call box improvements, and to request that the Council accept the funds from the UNC Student Body so that the necessary work could proceed promptly.
NEXT STEPS
Upon approval of the attached resolution by the Town Council, we will develop the plans and discuss with the area residents and student body representatives. Once the funding is in place, we would expect that the call boxes could be installed within three months and that pedestrian level street lighting could be installed within six months.
We recommend that the Council adopt the attached resolution authorizing the Manager to accept an $80,000 contribution to the Town from the UNC Student Body for installation of pedestrian-level street lighting improvements ($40,000) and installation of emergency call boxes ($40,000) in the downtown area of Chapel Hill.