[OMS_MANAGERS] Up lighting street trees

Fri Oct 11 00:36:05 PDT 2019

Albany has street trees with power in our 2005 and 2017 streetscapes. The power is provided by an power cord plugged into a GFI outlet located  in an in-sidewalk utility box. The cord goes through a gray ribbed plastic pipe (2005) or white PVC pipe (2017) and reemerges in the tree well.  Some are used by “hobos” and Pokémon fans but we don’t have too much of an problem with it. One merchant has used the power to string café lights on poles between two trees. That make me wonder how much amperage we have. I’ve heard it was only enough for lights not band equipment.

We are currently trying to figure out how to resolve numerous issues with the 2005 tree wells and our annual twinkle lights around the tree trunks. About 1/3 are currently non-functional. In previous years our partners at City of Albany would call an electrician to work on them. This year it was determined ADA needs to handle the problem and expense. The trees have grown in diameter over the years and in some cases have pinched the plastic pipe against the metal grates. This means we can’t replace the ole cords. Many grates no longer sit correctly in the wells are creating a trip hazard and a secondary problem. For some reason, many of the original cord were brown indoor household cords (scary).  Many of the GFIs will no longer reset or only stay on briefly and have to be reset. We have been working with the City on plans on how to deal with collapsed pipes without harming trees. We have a second meeting with an electrical contractor next week. We’ll replace GFI where we can also pull new cords.

The new tree wells (about 240) are fine for now, except for the few that were blocked or the pipes were pulled and came apart. Most have been fixed under warranty.

Here’s an article about some of the fun we had with the new tree wells. LINK <https://hh-today.com/tree-wells-a-streetscape-update/> 

I’m told GFIs don’t like damp… and all the slugs and spiders crawling on them can’t be good. The covers can’t be closed because the cords are plugged in. Our electrician says the whole set up a recipe for failure. He has also said we need to use 12-guage outdoor cords instead of the nice green 16-guage. The cost will go from $10 to $20 per cord. We’re avoiding the most common 12-ga cords with lighted plugs for to avoid encouraging misuse and aesthetic reasons. 

Eventually we are looking at lighting as many as 300 trees. We are implementing an Adopt-A-Block program where businesses will pick a block and be responsible to install and uninstall the light each year. We are making up adoption kits - tubs (over size shoe boxes) with a block specific quantity light string in individual Ziploc bags. In the spring, we will pick up the tubs and store them to the next fall. We are hoping this creates some additional sense of ownership that will help with weeding the tree wells in the summer and picking up trash year-round.

We use Rita at Di Julio Displays <http://dijuliodisplays.com/>  for our street tree lights strings, community tree strings & replaceable bulbs and snowflakes. She’s in the Northwest and will match the big guys if at all possible (and tell you when she can’t). She worked with us in 2017 to have Oregon-made snowflakes designed and manufactured for the new street lights to match the “Made in China” ones bought for the 2005 streetscape light poles. We still use a few of the giant snowflakes made by the local high school on street that still have old-school utility poles. We are still in discussions on what to do with the rest of them.

I’d love to hear more about how you-all are dealing with power to tree wells.

Thank you,

Lise Grato

Executive Director

Albany Downtown Association

126 SW Ferry Street

Albany, OR 97321

Email: director at albanydowntown.com

Phone: (541) 928-2469

Cell: (541) 905-2908

From: OMS_MANAGERS [mailto:oms_managers-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us] On Behalf Of president at historicwillamette.com
Sent: Thursday, October 10, 2019 10:22 AM
To: 'Oregon Main Street program managers' <oms_managers at listsmart.osl.state.or.us>
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Up lighting street trees

We are in the process of doing this exact thing with our streetscape. We will have the programmable LED lights that can change color, etc. We are very excited about it!

Thanks

Shannen

President

Historic Willamette Main Street

 <http://www.historicwillamette.com> www.historicwillamette.com

503-349-0015

From: OMS_MANAGERS <oms_managers-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us <mailto:oms_managers-bounces at listsmart.osl.state.or.us> > On Behalf Of LDA Main Street
Sent: Wednesday, October 9, 2019 6:44 PM
To: Oregon Main Street program managers <oms_managers at listsmart.osl.state.or.us <mailto:oms_managers at listsmart.osl.state.or.us> >
Subject: Re: [OMS_MANAGERS] Up lighting street trees

Hello Steve,

The City of Lebanon is currently working on a tree replacement project, which will include electrical installation in the tree wells for lighting. We are still in the process of digging out the roots. The City has done their homework. What would you like to know? 

Cassie

On Wed, Oct 9, 2019, 4:41 PM <steve at cateringbydeangelos.com <mailto:steve at cateringbydeangelos.com> > wrote:

Hi All,

Downtown Tigard has secured funding to up light street trees on Main Street- The concept is to get away from Twinkle lights that require installation and de installation annually and in some community invites vandalism. 

Our thought is an LED programmable light (2 per tree) that we can change colors throughout seasons or use generic white- we have plugs at each tree.

Have other communities ventured this direction?

Thought, comments, product sourcing, successes are appreciated as we begin this exploration.

Steve DeAngelo

Catering Consultant

PO Box 230382

Portland, Oregon 97281

503-620-9020 Office

503-793-9020 cell

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