Budget Committee Meeting – July 22, 2026: Street Light Repair and Mill & Overlay Updates
Budget Committee Meeting – July 22, 2026
The Budget Committee, chaired by Councilmember Cheniqua Johnson, met on July 22, 2026, to receive updates on two major public works topics: the ongoing street light repair and wire theft crisis, and the city's mill and overlay pavement program. Both items were received and filed after extensive discussion. Presentations were led by Public Works Director Barber, City Engineer Nick Peterson, and other staff, with questions from council members.
Discussion Items
Street Light Repair and Wire Theft Update
- Director Barber reported that over 10% of the city's nearly 40,000 street lights (approximately 3,500) are currently out due to copper wire theft, with the last time all lights were functional being 2022. Without changes, it could take at least 20 years to address the current backlog.
- Randy Newton, Public Works manager, explained that wire theft is a nationwide problem driven by rising copper prices (currently ~$6.50/lb, projected to exceed $9/lb by 2028). The city is falling further behind despite increased spending and overtime.
- Council President Noecker expressed frustration that the presentation lacked innovative strategies and rejected a proposed streetlight improvement district as a non-starter until theft is addressed. She emphasized the need for a citywide plan.
- Councilmember Kim noted that the current state law on copper wire sales lacks an electronic database, making enforcement difficult. She urged strengthening the legislation in the next session.
- Chief Halstrom (St. Paul Police) highlighted that only three recycling yards are in the city, and many sales go out of state. He suggested a statewide wire theft task force and better digital tracking.
- Councilmember Bowie asked about partnerships with the city attorney and attorney general to enhance enforcement against both thieves and receiving vendors.
- Councilmember Jost requested cost estimates for various deterrent strategies (e.g., solar lights, high-access poles) and a breakdown of short-term vs. long-term solutions.
- Council Vice President Yang praised staff efforts and suggested coordinating with the Planning and Economic Development department to help businesses improve lighting temporarily.
Mill and Overlay Update
- Director Barber and City Engineer Peterson explained that mill and overlay is a cost-effective pavement preservation technique (about $4/sq ft) that extends road life by 10–15 years. The city has two programs: arterial streets (funded by $4M general fund + $1M assessments) and residential streets (funded by $3.5M in street reconstruction bonds).
- Peterson noted that the equipment used by city forces is outdated and less efficient. A new roller could cost $200–300k and reduce passes from four to two, increasing productivity.
- Council President Noecker asked about seal coating, crack sealing, and the city's asphalt plant. Staff confirmed crack sealing is done only during repairs, not citywide. The asphalt plant is not yet MnDOT certified; efforts are underway.
- Councilmember Jost requested a cost-benefit analysis of better equipment and crack sealing as a preventive measure.
- Councilmember Johnson (Chair) asked for detailed financial breakdowns to understand where money is spent and what is needed, emphasizing that the committee needs concrete numbers for budget decisions.
- Staff noted that the same crews handle both mill and overlay and pothole filling, creating a trade-off. Using contractors was considered but found more expensive than in-house work.
Key Outcomes
- Both items (SR 26-148 and SR 26-149) were received and filed by the committee, meaning no formal action was taken but the information was accepted for record.
- Council members directed staff to provide detailed cost estimates, breakdowns of past funding, and potential strategies for both street light theft prevention and mill and overlay improvements.
- Staff committed to returning with more specific financial data and a clearer plan for the street light crisis, including possible legislative recommendations and partnership opportunities.
Meeting Transcript
Oh, we can't do that. Roll call, please. Chair Johnson. Here. Vice Chair Gain. Counselor Bully. Council Member. Counselor Kim. Here. Castle Member Joe's. Council President Acre. Here. Seven present and absent. All right. Well, um, I feel like our attendance is always kind of a fun thing to do. It's to make people make a lighter day. Um, we have a couple of the presentations today. Um, the oh so important street light repair um and replacement update that's coming in from our new director. Director Barber, I believe this is might be your first time giving a presentation. So exciting, exciting. Um, and then we'll go on to Millen Overlay, which will also be a Director Barber and several other folks that'll be joining her as well. So first and foremost, uh, Director Barber, welcome. Uh welcome. I'm really excited to be a part of your first presentation uh in front of the body, but also just like welcome to the city. I hope you're getting settled in well. It's been great to connect with you offline and overall. Just excited for you to be here. Absolutely. Thank you so much for having me here. And yes, this is my first time uh presenting, but very excited to do so. Um and uh we've got two important topics, and I've got a number of experts in the audience here, so uh I will kick things off for both of the presentations, but then we'll call on them. But we also have some if you have other questions, we'll make sure that we get answers to you. All right, so first we're talking about St. Paul's street lights and wire theft. Um, what we know is we know that street lights is a significant um public safety issue. We know it's a big problem. I want to share right out of the gate that one of we were talking about how to prepare this presentation. One of the key things we wanted to talk about is what a frustrating thing it is. Like we do a lot of work, we work very hard, we're doing repairs constantly, and sometimes as soon as we repair a light, something else happens and it's down again, and the fat the wire is stolen again. And this is turning into sort of this repeated cycle. And so we're gonna talk about how we want to ground ourselves into how we're gonna approach this going forward because we're really in a situation where we'll continue to have dark lights throughout the city, but we want to be responsive. We are doing a lot of work, and we want to make sure that people understand the kind of work we are doing. Um our team is very committed to doing this, and you know, it gets very hard for them too when this is happening on a uh cycle over and over and over again. Uh there's a variety of lighting styles here in the city, as you well know. And I think that you know, there are different issues with different types of lighting. Some are for residential streets, some are for bigger thoroughfares, all of that, and there's a lot of historic lighting as well. Um we do know that some of the lighting fixtures are affected more than others by copper wire theft, and we've noticed specifically some of the decorative the cast iron or aluminum ones are the ones that are often uh the ones that are targeted most quickly. Here's a slide we won't spend a lot of time here, but you can kind of see the percentage of the different lights throughout the city. I think the key number that I want to mention is that we have almost 40,000 lights in the city of St. Paul.
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