Several residents used the citizen participation period Aug. 11 to report streetlight outages, missing pole hand-hole covers and alley maintenance problems that they say present safety and health risks.
Tom Sullivan, who said he lives at 751 Syracuse, told council he previously raised missing protective covers on streetlight hand holes at a May meeting and again July 14; he said at least three poles he identified still lacked covers and that uncovered hand holes expose high-voltage wiring. Sullivan recalled a historical child electrocution tied to an uncovered pole and urged the city to act. He also listed multiple streetlights he said were out across the city — Olive and Kingsland, Chamberlain east of Kingsland, Loop North by an alley near Heman, Midland, and Olive west of Pennsylvania — and said the work should be the responsibility of the city manager and relevant departments.
Sullivan also raised dumpster lids missing or damaged behind All Saints on Clemens, tree-branch piles, and about 20 feet of electrical wire hanging from a pole that he believed to be dead wiring. He said he had told the city manager about the problems on or around July 1 and again at the July 14 council meeting.
No formal council action or staff response was recorded on the transcript during citizen comments; staff later acknowledged resident concerns during the public meeting on other items, and the city intends to follow up through regular code enforcement and public-works channels.