Jill Schramm/MDN Decorative street lights in Minot’s Shirley Court, believed to date to the 1920s or 1930s, are deteriorating and are scheduled for replacement.

Residents of a looped court in northeast Minot whose long-time decorative lighting is on its way out will be spared special assessments for its replacement.

The Minot City Council voted 6-0 Monday to use city reserve funds to pick up that cost.

Council member Rob Fuller said that although the cost is estimated at $112,000, some of that amount is related to the expense of special assessing. The construction cost is estimated at about $82,000, or $90,000 with contingency for unexpected items, to replace the six lantern decor lights from the 1920s or 1930s with regular neighborhood street lighting.

“As a city, I feel like we’ve been doing this wrong in the past, and I think it’s time to start fixing that,” Fuller said of special assessments. “First, this isn’t a new amenity or luxury. It’s basic city infrastructure that’s deteriorated beyond repair.”

Additionally, he said, the city has owned and maintained the lighting and replacing them is a matter of public safety and basic service.

“We have the resources in place,” he added. “Assessing $6,000 per household for a failing system the city is responsible for, it just doesn’t sit right with me. And then third, this is a trust issue in my mind. Residents have already paid their taxes that are meant to cover the maintenance and replacement of city infrastructure. Asking them to pay again through special assessment, essentially for something that’s clearly the city’s responsibility, erodes that trust. Fully funding this replacement shows that we take basic service seriously and we’re willing to stand behind commitments those taxes are supposed to be used to fund.”

Council member Mike Blessum voiced concern about fairness, noting the city has placed special assessments on other neighborhoods for lighting. However, he said he largely agreed with Fuller’s position.

“I’m of the opinion on this one that aging infrastructure – again, about a century old – is the city’s responsibility,” he said.

According to a memo from the city engineer, portions of the street lights have rusted through and deteriorated. Staff has had to fabricate material to keep the lights in operation because replacement parts were discontinued decades ago.

The project would replace the existing lights with six new street light poles and LED luminaires. In 2023, the city contributed 35% of the funding toward a street lighting project in another area of the city. If the Shirley Court project had been allocated 35%, the average assessment for property owners at Shirley Court would have been an estimated $3,848.