Public commenters urge city to take over holiday decorations and fix unsafe water-tower wiring

A group of long-time volunteers told the Lebanon committee on Jan. 20 that they are retiring from maintaining the town square and mini-park holiday decorations and plan to move stored items from the carriage house to the old firehouse, asking the city to accept responsibility.

"We realized that we're all getting up their age ... it's too much for us to take care of," the speaker said, describing plans to transfer the decorations and the volunteers’ photos and instructions so the city can continue the displays.

The commenter also described a safety concern at the downtown water tower: exposed wiring and an outdated fuse box used for the decorative star. The volunteer said an electrician inspected the box and "gave us an estimate of $3,500 to correct that — putting in a breaker box as opposed with a fuse box." The speaker said the wiring appeared to include bare wires and was "not secured very well."

Chair emphasized that because the matter was not on the published agenda the council could not take formal action that night but could discuss it and add it to a future agenda. "We cannot take any action on an item that is not on the agenda, but we can discuss it," the chair said, and the committee agreed to place the safety and decorations matter on next week's agenda for formal consideration.

The commenter said the Chamber of Commerce had provided some funds toward decorations but the amount was "not specified" and that they would report back after the chamber meeting. The committee did not vote that evening; staff will prepare a new agenda item so council members can consider accepting the decorations and funding repairs as needed.