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Clovis staff maps gaps in residential street lighting as capital funds arrive
Summary
City staff presented GIS mapping showing 301 intersections across Clovis lack residential street lighting and outlined using recent capital outlay to install solar lights, recommending a phased, area-by-area approach rather than scattering fixtures citywide.
Justin, a city staff member leading the presentation, told the Clovis Public Works Committee that the city applied for capital outlay funding for residential street lighting and has already completed installing 22 solar street lights focused in District 3. “We actually just completed installing 22 new solar street lights in the community, and those were focused on District 3,” Justin said.
Justin said staff had GIS mapping done to show where the city lacks street lights and that the map separates lights owned by Xcel Energy and Farmers Electric. He said intersections without street lights were marked and that the count by council district is 68 in District 1, 89 in District 2, 78 in District 3 and 66 in District 4 — a total of 301 intersections currently without residential street lights within 100 feet of the intersection.
The presentation included cost context: “Gosh, we spent $300,000 last year on 22 street lights. So it's about $20,000 a light,” Justin said, and he noted that $200,000 in new funds would buy roughly 10 solar lights at that unit cost. He told the committee he was not asking for a recommendation that day but wanted guidance on planning and prioritization and said staff would return with a formal recommendation at a future meeting.
Committee members discussed prioritization approaches. Justin recommended a systematic approach — completing a concentrated area or block before moving to the next — rather than distributing a small number of lights across many neighborhoods. A committee member asked whether crime statistics should guide siting; Justin said staff previously overlaid crime maps but that the correlation between lighting and the mapped crime incidents did not clearly support a simple rule. “When you actually plotted that on the maps, that didn't necessarily sell to it,” Justin said.
Committee members also noted constraints tied to existing power infrastructure. A member observed that neighborhoods with underground power and few overhead poles — such as Colonial Park — lack existing circuit access, making conventional electric street lights difficult to install; Justin said that was one reason the city has favored solar lights and noted prior concerns about using capital funds to pay a private utility, which led to the solar option.
Several committee members suggested a hybrid prioritization: focus a first round in one district (as District 3 was funded previously) but then target “hot spots” — specific streets or intersections identified by commissioners or staff — in subsequent rounds. Justin reiterated the city has foundation designs and procurement relationships in place for solar poles and panels from the last phase and will bring a more detailed plan back for committee recommendation.
Ending: Justin told the committee there was no formal recommendation that day; staff will return with a plan after further analysis of the GIS data, hot-spot identification and available capital outlay funds.
