RAC meeting focuses on improved lighting in the Springs

Scarcely a month after a Springs resident was sexually assaulted on a dark street in Boyes Hot Springs, the Redevelopment Advisory Committee (RAC) took up the issue of lighting at its Dec. 3 meeting.
After covering the minutes of the previous meeting and hearing updates from Kathleen Kane, executive director of the Community Development Commission, on the budget for highway work and other improvements in the Springs Redevelopment Area, committee chairman Stephen Cox took note of the exceptionally large attendance compared to most RAC meetings.
Subsequently, at least one board member attributed the attendance disparity to the public’s interest in lighting and safety concerned following the assault that took place on Nov. 6 in the 300 block of Vallejo Avenue.
In addition to safety concerns, there had previously been a question regarding which agency would provide the funding for additional street lighting, so Cox moved the topic up on the agenda.
Kane reported that before former committee member Boris Sztorch resigned, he had told her that he had been approached by a number of people about using redevelopment money to improve projects in the Springs. He apparently had said, yes, “that the funds could be used to take measures that could be considered anti-crime measures.”
The snafu was that Redevelopment money is the source of “last resort, if no other funding” were available, Kane said. According to Kane, Sztorch contacted the Valley of the Moon Lighting District to ask if it had funds that could be used for that purpose.
Ken Giovannetti, an engineer with the County of Sonoma, addressed the committee. He explained the boundaries of the lighting district, which more than encompass the redevelopment agency and said there are already 1,500 existing street lights between Agua Caliente Road and Temelec.
“We have a budget of $100,000,” said Giovannetti, “because we take in more than we spend.”
The money comes, he said, from property taxes, of which one-half of one percent are earmarked for the Valley of the Moon Lighting District (which amounts to some $350,000 a year).
There are three ways the district takes up lighting improvements, Giovannetti said: staff initiation, the request of two members of the Board of Supervisors, or a petition from 20 property owners within the district’s boundary. Once his department gets the go-ahead, he said, “We do a walk-through to find the best locations.”
The lighting district has to consider objections from residents who might be impacted by increased lighting in their neighborhood, and moreover has to weigh the benefits of adding lights at different heights or more decorative fixtures, both of which are more expensive, against budgetary limitations. The district’s practice is to add lights on top of existing PG&E poles, which are already wired for electricity.
On Monday, Dec. 8, director Kane said she was not surprised by the Valley of the Moon Lighting District taking over the funding. “It is great news for us,” she said. “They have been very responsive. If in the future, we need lighting and the lighting district has no more money, we can revisit the issue.”