Three years after a streetlight project was launched by area businesses, it is unclear whether a set of solar-powered lamps will be used to light the way for downtown Pflugerville patrons and pedestrians.
Local businesses involved in the Pflugerville Downtown Association began raising funds to purchase the vintage-style lights for Pecan Street about three years ago, said David Garlick, who owns Pflugerville framing company Wordyisms with his wife, Jean.
Garlick said the idea was to accentuate downtown’s charm and value as a shopping and recreation destination.
“We wanted to try to make a unified old town look—if you look at the lights on Pecan they’re telephone poles with aluminum arms,” he said. “We’re growing so fast, there are so many demands for money and we can’t seem to get the funding the city needs to [invest in downtown aesthetics].”
The PDA raised $20,000 in two years through events such as golf tournaments and chili cookoffs and partnered with the Pflugerville Community Development Corp., which provided another $30,000 for the lights project, PCDC Executive Director Floyd Akers said.
The lights were custom designed and purchased from New York-based solar company Pvilion, but when the city of Pflugerville tried to contract out the light installation, the bids came in around $150,000—nearly three times what city staff anticipated, Assistant City Manager Trey Fletcher said.
“We just didn’t anticipate the bids coming in quite that high,” he said.
Complexities stemmed from the fact that Pecan is a state-owned road, Fletcher said. Also, the solar panels on the streetlights are not compatible with the current utility infrastructure downtown, he said.
“The lights didn’t have a battery backup to allow the solar [energy to be stored until the lights turned on at night],” he said. “The practicality of the solar powering the light wouldn’t work. If the solar is hooked up it would feed into the grid, but it wouldn’t directly power the light.”
The solar model was chosen to blend the attitudes of Pflugerville’s small-town feel and the city’s commitment to smart growth and environmental consciousness, Akers said.
“These are antique[-style] solar panel lights. They were made just for us, and they harken back to Pflugerville’s history and our eco-friendly attitude,” he said. “We’re very conscious about our energy.”
The lights are now in storage, and city officials are considering alternate locations such as Railroad Avenue, Fletcher said. Akers said his board could decide through a July vote to install the lights at 130 Commerce Center and reimburse the PDA.
Garlick said he would be open to the lights being installed somewhere other than downtown if they could just be put to use.
“The money is hard-earned, and we are just about to start on our fourth year trying to get the lights installed,” he said. “I think everyone has had good intentions who worked on it. I think we were all caught by surprise by the complexity of actually getting this done.”
Randi Field, a PDA member and owner of Pflugerville Massage Associates, said she hopes area residents stay motivated to invest in and push for downtown improvements.
“We have to work with what we have, and we have to be more creative,” she said. “I do hope some of the new [business] owners find time to get involved [as well as] other citizens—you don’t have to be a business owner to be involved with planning this in the downtown area.”
Three years after a streetlight project was launched by area businesses, it is unclear whether a set of solar-powered lamps will be used to light the way for downtown Pflugerville patrons and pedestrians.
Local businesses involved in the Pflugerville Downtown Association began raising funds to purchase the vintage-style lights for Pecan Street about three years ago, said David Garlick, who owns Pflugerville framing company Wordyisms with his wife, Jean.
Garlick said the idea was to accentuate downtown’s charm and value as a shopping and recreation destination.
“We wanted to try to make a unified old town look—if you look at the lights on Pecan they’re telephone poles with aluminum arms,” he said. “We’re growing so fast, there are so many demands for money and we can’t seem to get the funding the city needs to [invest in downtown aesthetics].”
The PDA raised $20,000 in two years through events such as golf tournaments and chili cookoffs and partnered with the Pflugerville Community Development Corp., which provided another $30,000 for the lights project, PCDC Executive Director Floyd Akers said.
The lights were custom designed and purchased from New York-based solar company Pvilion, but when the city of Pflugerville tried to contract out the light installation, the bids came in around $150,000—nearly three times what city staff anticipated, Assistant City Manager Trey Fletcher said.
“We just didn’t anticipate the bids coming in quite that high,” he said.
Complexities stemmed from the fact that Pecan is a state-owned road, Fletcher said. Also, the solar panels on the streetlights are not compatible with the current utility infrastructure downtown, he said.
“The lights didn’t have a battery backup to allow the solar [energy to be stored until the lights turned on at night],” he said. “The practicality of the solar powering the light wouldn’t work. If the solar is hooked up it would feed into the grid, but it wouldn’t directly power the light.”
The solar model was chosen to blend the attitudes of Pflugerville’s small-town feel and the city’s commitment to smart growth and environmental consciousness, Akers said.
“These are antique[-style] solar panel lights. They were made just for us, and they harken back to Pflugerville’s history and our eco-friendly attitude,” he said. “We’re very conscious about our energy.”
The lights are now in storage, and city officials are considering alternate locations such as Railroad Avenue, Fletcher said. Akers said his board could decide through a July vote to install the lights at 130 Commerce Center and reimburse the PDA.
Garlick said he would be open to the lights being installed somewhere other than downtown if they could just be put to use.
“The money is hard-earned, and we are just about to start on our fourth year trying to get the lights installed,” he said. “I think everyone has had good intentions who worked on it. I think we were all caught by surprise by the complexity of actually getting this done.”
Randi Field, a PDA member and owner of Pflugerville Massage Associates, said she hopes area residents stay motivated to invest in and push for downtown improvements.
“We have to work with what we have, and we have to be more creative,” she said. “I do hope some of the new [business] owners find time to get involved [as well as] other citizens—you don’t have to be a business owner to be involved with planning this in the downtown area.”
