The Mount Vernon Historic Preservation Commission and City of Mount Vernon discussed the new streetlight program with Alliant Energy at Saturday, Sept. 7’s commission meeting.
Commission member’s main concerns had to do with the electric banners in uptown Mount Vernon, one of the historic districts in the community of Mount Vernon.
City administrator Chris Nosbisch said that for the most part, the banners would only be used to display banners similar to the ones that are currently hung on street lights in Mount Vernon.
“We cautiously moved forward with this project, and our goal as I have previously stated, is to make sure our downtown does not look like Times Square,” Nosbisch said.
Nosbisch said that many of the electronic banners are hard to tell they are even electronic banners until you are right near them.
Only eight of the proposed 24 light poles have electronic banners on them. Commission member Guy Booth asked what type of messages could be displayed on the banners, would that include advertising?
Nosbisch said that they had seen that happen at Platteville, and Nosbisch was not in favor of that being displayed.
“If we do not like the look or feel of the electric banners after a period of time, we can have poles retrofitted to have the traditional banners hung up,” Nosbisch said. “Alliant is using us to collect information on usage.”
The only other instance Nosbisch said those banners might be used is in case of an emergency to direct people to shelters or help locate a missing child.
Booth said his concern was that there be no advertising on the poles, and wanted Historic Preservation Commission to come up with language dictating that the banners displayed are the ones currently used or only switched out in cases of an emergency, like a missing child in uptown. The language in a resolution of that nature will be determined at a future MVHPC meeting before January when these new lighting poles are closer to being installed. That language would put the issue of running advertisements on the poles as something that has to come back before MVHPC as a safeguard in the future. Nosbisch said that he and the city have a healthy respect for historic preservation in the community and would appreciate that safeguard being established.
Commission member Mary Evans concern was the music during Magical Nights. As committee chair of that group, she said the elementary and high school musicians performing during the evening usually concludes at 6:30 p.m., and would it be possible that music from those lights is held off during those performances. Nosbisch said that could easily be accommodated for the festivals and something the city is in control of.
Nosbisch said the big thing the city was hoping for was utilizing the poles for emergency announcements, especially during the many festivals the community holds.
One of Nosbisch’s biggest concerns was how protected the communication is through these light poles, and Nosbisch said one computer in the city would have access to those controls. The city would be the ones responsible for the banners, communication in cases of emergencies and the like.
The city is responsible for the electrical con- duits for wi-fi and speakers for the new light poles, but Alliant is responsible for the purchase and maintenance of the light poles for the next 10 years.
Existing poles that are taken down will be repurposed for use in other areas, like the trail systems and parks.
Nosbisch said the city had known about the decision from Alliant since January, but it was Alliant’s project to announce.