Whitefish planning fancy lights at west entrance

It will cost an extra $353,737, but Whitefish will have decorative street lights along the city’s west entrance on U.S. 93, the Whitefish City Council decided Monday.

The Montana Department of Transportation needed a decision on lighting to continue on its schedule of designing the reconstruction of U.S. 93 from Lupfer Avenue to State Park Road, a project that may begin in 2012.

Standard cobra-head lights for that area would cost $345,159, an amount the state would pay. But if Whitefish wants decorative lights the cost roughly doubles to nearly $699,000 and the city has to make up the difference of $353,737.

“We need to do this and we need to go all the way to State Park Road,” council member Bill Kahle said, stressing the importance of an attractive west entrance to Whitefish.

Mayor Mike Jenson agreed, noting the importance of the highway corridor.

“I encourage you to bite the bullet and do it because this will last for 100 years,” Jenson said.

He reminded the council of a decision many years ago to put sidewalks on both sides of Baker Avenue that almost didn’t happen because of the added expense. The council had toyed with the idea of sidewalks on only one side of Baker, but in the end opted for both sides. It was money well spent, Jenson said.

Council member Turner Askew also favored the decorative lighting, saying it “would be a tragedy to miss this opportunity.”

Council member Phil Mitchell was the lone opponent of the decorative lights for the entire stretch. He said they’re just too expensive in light of the city’s financial condition. Mitchell supported the fancier lights from Lupfer Avenue to the Second Street bridge; that segment would cost the city just $36,633.

Council member Chris Hyatt wondered about a special-improvement district to raise the extra money, but the consensus of other council members is that an SID would unfairly tax residential property owners along the highway.

“This is truly a gateway,” Askew said. “An SID is not appropriate”

He wondered if the state could install the decorative posts, with lights to follow as the city became “more flush,” but Public Works Director John Wilson said he doubted the state, being “liability conscious,” would agree to that.

In his staff report, Wilson noted that while the additional cost is a big consideration, “at the same time, consideration of the intrusive lights along U.S. 93 South leads us to recommend paying the additional cost for decorative lighting in areas with strong residential character.”

Wilson also said visitor attractions such as Whitefish Lake Golf Course and Grouse Mountain Lodge may justify extending the decorative lights to Fairway Drive.

The light poles would be roughly the same height as traditional cobra-head poles but would have the same decorative flair as the downtown street lamps. The light receptacles would look like lanterns and comply with the city’s dark sky ordinance.

As it stands now, the city plans to use tax-increment finance district revenue to pay for lighting in the first phase of U.S. 93 reconstruction from Lupfer to Karrow avenue, and likely would increase street maintenance fees in the commercial light district to help pay for the lights.

For the second phase of reconstruction, the council decided to let the record show, “funding to be determined.”