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City electrician outlines alarm upgrades, smart signals and street‑lighting investments
Summary
John Giardi told council committees the city is replacing aging alarm 'master boxes' with AES radio mesh and is advancing corridor smart‑signal and LED lighting projects; the committee recommended the electrical personnel and expenditures budgets.
City electrician John Giardi told the budget committees on June 1 that the electrical division is proceeding with several modernization projects intended to improve safety and reduce future replacement costs.
Giardi described the city’s transition from disparate alarm circuits and older communicators to an AES radio/mesh model that provides robust contact‑ID and avoids repeated hardware replacement tied to cellular network changes. “We have an AES radio which you buy the radio one‑time deal... and then you pay a monitoring fee monthly,” he said, explaining the choice to standardize the city’s monitored alarm radios.
The change, Giardi said, will allow the city to remove obsolete 'master boxes' on poles and move building alarms to central monitoring stations, providing responders with more precise alarm zone and device information before arrival.
Traffic and lighting: Giardi also summarized street‑lighting upgrades on Jefferson, Highland and Lafayette avenues and described a multi‑intersection smart‑signal program (phase three) covering Derby, Conger, Essex and Hawthorne that will install modern controllers, pedestrian buttons and coordinated controllers to improve safety and throughput.
Council action: The committee recommended approval of the electrical personnel budget ($535,824) and the electrical expenditures budget ($514,996). Both motions were moved by Council King, seconded by Council Flynn and recorded as carried with five hands in favor.
Context and next steps: Giardi said the AES/mesh alarm work is already underway in municipal buildings and schools and that the department will coordinate removal of legacy infrastructure with property owners and public safety officials. He said the street‑lighting work will continue after completion of core fire alarm projects, and the smart‑signal phases should show visible results by late summer to mid‑fall as contractors complete work.
