Montrose weighs streetlight replacement options with Xcel Energy and budget trade-offs

City of Montrose staff presented options for replacing expiring Xcel Energy streetlight agreements and asked the council to weigh upfront costs against long-term monthly fees.

City Engineer Jared Vogi walked through choices for residential pedestrian fixtures (acorn or lantern) and industrial-area options (decorative Evans fixtures or cobra-heads). He gave example figures from the packet: a prepaid pedestrian-style fixture with an upfront estimate of about $14,000 per light and a monthly charge near $6, versus a traditional fixture with an upfront estimate near $2,500 and a monthly charge near $24. For the Lemmerman Industrial Park, staff presented a decorative prepay option (about $17,500 per light, $8 monthly), a cobra-head prepay (about $14,200 per light, $8 monthly), and a standard service-replacement option with lower initial buy-in (noted around $6,500) and higher monthly service (around $28). Vogi summarized the practical trade-offs: "That's a lot of information. It took a long time to get all of this out of Excel, but, we have the information now, and it's available for council consideration."

Council members asked staff to bring back fixture samples (models) and a mapped schedule of lighting districts so the city can adopt a standard fixture and understand the magnitude of future replacements. Staff noted the city budget had previously planned for the prepay option and that replacements will surface over time as lights reach end-of-life; council did not make a final selection but directed staff to return with fixture models and a multi-year plan.