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TO:Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
ATTENTION:Ryan Smoot, City Manager
FROM:Len Gorecki, Assistant City Manager/Director of Public Works SUBJECT:Consideration and possible action to authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with Southern California Edison for the acquisition of the city-owned streetlights within the Executive Tract neighborhood.
DATE:April 28, 2025
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This City owns fifteen streetlights within the Executive Tract neighborhood that continue to have operational issues and are aged to the extent that they are no longer serviceable as configured. City staff is requesting direction from the City Council on the possibility of selling the streetlights to Southern California Edison (SCE) to be operated and maintained going forward in the same manner as other streetlights in the City owned by SCE or continue to own the streetlights and develop a capital improvement project for the necessary repairs.
RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL
1) Authorize the City Manager to execute an agreement with Southern California Edison (SCE) for the acquisition of the city-owned streetlights, in a form approved by the City Attorney; or
2) Direct the City Manager, or his designee, to develop a capital improvement project for the design and repair of the streetlights; or
3) Alternatively, discuss and take other action related to this item.
FISCAL IMPACT
There would be no fiscal impact to the City if the decision is made to sell the streetlights to SCE. If staff is directed to develop a CIP project for the streetlight repairs, the City would have to work with a design team and SCE to develop the plans and specifications to estimate the cost of the project. Initial estimates for this work could range from $300,000-$400,000.
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Staff Report – Executive Tract Streetlight Operation & Maintenance Issue Overview April 28, 2025
DISCUSSION
The Executive Tract neighborhood was originally developed in the mid-1950’s and is located just south of St. John Bosco High School. When it was developed, the area was part of the City of Downey. The development of the parcels and infrastructure (including the streetlights in the Executive Tract area) were later annexed to the City of Bellflower when the city boundary was extended north up to Foster Road. The Executive Tract area includes 47 single family homes on segments of Leahy Avenue, Crestbrook Street, Cabell Avenue and Belfair Street (see the attached map). While most of the streetlights in the surrounding area, and throughout the rest of the City, are owned and operated by SCE, the lights in this tract were never transferred to SCE for ongoing maintenance and operations. The City has owned and maintained these streetlights since the area was annexed into the City.
Over the past decade, there has been a steady increase in outages and maintenance issues with the streetlights in this area. The City’s contractor (Santa Fe Springs) has historically handled these issues, however the repairs are limited to available parts for the aging system. SCE recently replaced the old oil can transformer and connected the system to a new transformer, but that has not proven to make the system more reliable and operational issues still persist. To resolve these issues going forward and ensure the lights continue to be functional for the residents in the area, the City has two options it can explore. Public Works staff is seeking direction from the City Council on these options.
Option #1 – Sell the Streetlights to SCE
SCE has approached the City and offered to purchase these streetlights and incorporate them into their existing Bellflower inventory for the purchase price of $1.00. Upon completion of the sale, SCE would eliminate the existing underground wiring and power the system with overhead wiring from streetlight to streetlight, similar to the existing configuration of streetlights on the streets surrounding the Executive Tract. This is a similar method powering the majority of the streetlights throughout the City. The high- pressure sodium bulbs would be replaced with more efficient LED streetlights that will also match the surrounding streets. Finally, SCE will assume the on-going operation and maintenance of these lights in perpetuity as they do with all of the other streetlights they own throughout the City. This option would ensure that the lights remain functional in the future and ensure that outages related to the aging infrastructure are able to be appropriately managed.
Option #2 – Develop a CIP project and Streetlight Assessment District Alternatively, the City could direct staff to explore the feasibility of developing a Capital Improvement Project to replace and rehabilitate the existing underground infrastructure of the lighting system in this particular tract. To accomplish this, City staff would need to initiate a feasibility and design study to develop a future capital improvement project to rehabilitate the existing streetlight system and bring it up to a standard that could integrate with SCE’s other systems. Should the City Council direct staff to explore this option, staff would also recommend the City consider establishment of a streetlight assessment district for this that would allow the costs of these repairs and upgrades to be shared among the affected property owners within the tract.
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Staff Report – Executive Tract Streetlight Operation & Maintenance Issue Overview April 28, 2025
DISCUSSION – Continued
The process of creating an assessment district is lengthy and ultimately requires approval of a majority of the affected property owners in the area. However, in doing so, the cost of such a project would ultimately be reimbursed to the City over a defined period of time.
A preliminary project estimate, including the feasibility and design, formal election of the ballot measure and construction will be in excess of $400,000.
ATTACHMENT
Executive Tract Area Map ............................................................................................... 4 -3-
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