Downtown lights installed in Fairfield

FAIRFIELD - Fairfield residents should notice a brighter downtown in the near future thanks to the installation of 55 new light poles.

The Fairfield City Council awarded the contract to install the poles to Alliant Energy for just over $600,000. Alliant began installing the new poles earlier in April. Fairfield City Administrator Aaron Kooiker said the company has until June to finish the project, but he expects it to be done sooner than that.

'They're moving along quite well,” Kooiker said.

Due to the coronavirus sharply limiting business activity and travel in general, Kooiker said Alliant has not had to dodge as much traffic as during a normal construction season. The reason the city opted to replace the poles is that the old ones were deteriorating, particularly at the base, and that was creating a safety hazard.

When the council approved the plan to replace the light poles in January of 2019, it decided that 22-23 of the poles will be replaced to look like the dark-colored decorative poles, while the rest will be the standard silver color. The light bulbs will all be light emitting diodes (LED), which Kooiker said will be brighter and save the city money.

'People will notice that downtown is brighter,” Kooiker said.

The city plans to pay for the lighting with the $155,000 it receives annually in backfill from the state government. Backfill is money the state sends local governments to compensate them for not taxing property owners on the full value of their property. If the Iowa Legislature eliminates backfill for whatever reason, the city's backup plan is to pay for the lights with local-option sales tax.