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Danville residents may see an odd looking vehicle slowly driving through neighborhoods this week as the Town conducts a survey to update the street light system.
As part of an annual engineering update, a truck fitted with a special digital camera will be traveling through the Town capturing images of the existing street lights.
The new information will be used to update the information the Town maintains in its Geographic Information System (GIS) database. The primary goal of the survey is to determine if the cost of operation of the street lights is correct.
A preliminary review indicates that the survey information could result in a cost reduction for operating the system.
The Town’s street lights are maintained by PG&E but the cost of maintenance and operation is paid for through the Town’s Lighting and Landscape Assessment District (LLAD).
The camera-truck began driving through Town on Monday, Oct. 25, and the survey is expected to last for 10 days.
Dear Emily,
Let us think about street lighting from a political, social and safety standpoint. Throughout the corridor, neighborhoods have sought underground utilities combined with street lighting and municipal Wi-Fi. There are grants available through relationships with PG&E that make this solution reasonable for neighborhoods.
Let us ask your readers where they think the resistance is to the safety of street lighting and the convenience of municipal Wi-Fi. After all this is a wealthy community that is ready for Urban Luxury, am I correct?
halbailey@yahoo.com
What about all of us homeowners on westside Danville with no street lights or sidewalks. We still pay for them in our annual property tax bill. When can we see them in our neighborhood?
Westside Homeowner- I’m curious, have you lived here a long time? We’ve only been here about four years, but the darkness on the west side has always been quite noticeable. I honestly thought that maybe west-siders just didn’t like the intrusion of street lights, and I may have formed that opinion partly because almost no one in that area seems to put up Christmas lights. We often refer to you guys as the “bah-humbuggers”! But to me, it always seemed like a really good place for burglars to target. There are some streets near us that are also very dark, and personally I would not want to live on any of them. If people in your area do want more lights, then you are certainly entitled to them I agree.
Derek:
It’s funny that you say that becuase when the ditches that are so dangerous on our street were filled only on one side, the town engineer at that time (roughly 5 years ago) told us that the old westside people preferred the country look with no lights and big ditches.! Being new to the neighborhood, I polled all the neighbors and they ALL SAID “that’s news to me” and one person said, ” I have the biggest ditch and no one polled me” Others said, “many of the older people have passed on or moved into assisted living & the neighborhood has more families with children, it gets so dark in the winter, it is unsafe”
When people from other areas of town or out of town try to find our place, they are appalled at the lighting. It is downright scary at night. What you have heard is propaganda I am afraid. We would love to get what we pay for over here. Some famiies have to pay for a street light on one part. Others have installed their own lights but this is not too helpful when you pull it at night and left in the day and trying to conserve energy, you can’t see a thing and it’s downright dangerous for us younger people, imagine the “older residents” that have full garages like most Californians.
I agree it’s time that us Westsiders whose streets are often used as freeway shortcuts, get what we pay for in taxes. Are streets are used by many out of towners when 680 is jammed up as well as an alternate route, we would like to be able to see at night like the rest of Danville. As to the electic wires all over the place, this is downright dangerous in the event of an earthquake. We would love to have the same basic amenities that the rest of Danville has! Lighting improvements is a priority to most of us, particularly those with children.
Yes, I have lived on westside for 19 years. I have always wanted street lights and sidewalks. When it gets dark in the winter at 5pm, you feel like you can’t go for a walk – unless, like my husband, you wear a head lamp! So, I turn on my own mailbox street light, and leave it on for all neighbors until 11pm every night.
Good afternoon. Thanks for raising those points. I passed on your thoughts to Town Development Services Director Steve Lake and he was able to shed some light on the situation.
First, let me clarify: If you don’t have a street light near your home, you are not being charged for street lighting. If your home is located within 100 feet of a street light you are assessed a fee of $58.50/yr as part of Danville’s street light program which is paid for through a Lighting and Landscaping District (LLAD). No property taxes are used in paying the maintenance costs of our street lights.
For those homeowners who don’t have street lights but want them, the first thing to check on is whether you are on a public or a private street. Some streets on the west side are privately owned, thus any improvements would need to be handled through your Homeowners Association or a resident owner.
If you live on a public street and would like a street light, contact the Town. In these instances it is necessary to determine whether or not it is feasible to install streetlights. If there are existing phone or power poles that would allow for a mast and light fixture to be installed, it may be feasible Adding streetlights in areas with no existing poles would be difficult as the cost of running conduit and electrical and installing a power pole to mount the light would be cost prohibitive.
Next, your neighbors must be contacted to determine if everyone is in agreement that street lights would be desired. If there is a committed majority that wants the lights installed, the next step would be to approach PG&E with the street light request.
I believe the poster Rachel also asked in regards to above ground power lines. PG&E maintains the electrical wires and infrastructure in Town. The Town does have a program to ‘underground’ overhead utilities that is funded by PG&E, however, PG&E restricts undergrounding to large contiguous projects, like the recent undergrounding of the overhead utilities on Camino Tassajara Parkway.
Hope this helps! For more information on the street lights, contact Development Services Director Steve Lake at slake@danville.ca.gov. For general questions or information, you can always reach me at ggillette@danville.ca.gov.
Geoff Gillette
Public Information Coordinator
Town of Danville
ggillette@danville.ca.gov.
Interesting you don’t hear Diablo residents asking for streetlights…be careful what you ask for folks…you live in a HUGE fire risk area, but do you really want sidewalks and streetlights? Preserve your unique beautiful lucky space…in my view, don’t spoil a thing…no streetlights, big lots, big oak trees equal home equity. I think that is why most of you moved there…