Okay, so the Asian District streetscape was a much needed and long overdue improvement. From what I can tell, no one has been working out there in months and the "ornamental" lighting has been installed months ago (see Dougs pics in the Asian District thread). At night time the place is a virtual blackout because the streetlights on Classen STILL have not been turned on. Who do we need to contact to get these turned on?

I thought if anyone would know it would be you. I wonder about this everytime I go to a Thunder game since it is almost always dark at this time.

I wonder why the city doesn't turn on half of the new streetlights they just put up around the metro.

maybe the city hasn't paid their electric bills?

Who do we need to contact to get these turned on?

I think the question is...who (specifically) is in charge of this project and left it like it is with no update after ripping out our old lighting and putting in new ones that essentially "dont work"!

Seriously, if we are gonna pay these people, they've got to be responsible and held accountable when they are not.

Heck, if I halfway did something at my job, I'd be fired on the spot!

Hey Metro (or anybody else that knows),

On a similar topic, what's up with the somewhat new decorative streetlights that are installed over on 10th street west of western (I think)?

Every time I drive down 10th over that way, there are fixtures hanging loose and things seem to have been installed and left unmaintained.

I have been meaning to ask about this on here for quite some time.

Is this a case of shoddy contracting?

Is this a case of shoddy contracting?

One of my biggest picks around here is how these folks with the city just approve crap without verifying compliance and completion and they dont get disciplined when they waste our money! Roads, buildings, streetlights, you name it. There wouldn't be shoddy contracting issues if the checks were only cut when the job met the two conditions above!

One of my jobs involves contract work and I know that we rarely run into customers who will pay us in full before the job is done.

One of my biggest picks around here is how these folks with the city just approve crap without verifying compliance and completion and they dont get disciplined when they waste our money! Roads, buildings, streetlights, you name it. There wouldn't be shoddy contracting issues if the checks were only cut when the job met the two conditions above!

One of my jobs involves contract work and I know that we rarely run into customers who will pay us in full before the job is done.

The contractor did a great job - it's not his responsibility at this point. Call the City's Traffic Management Division for street lighting complaints (Traffic is in charge of all City lighting), unless it's a light out, then call OG&E. 99% of the street lighting in Oklahoma City is operated by OG&E, and installed at the City's request. If a neighborhood has decorative lighting, then they paid OG&E the cost to upgrade - same with nearly every City streetscape project.

On topic - call Traffic Management (297-2531) or Public Works (297-2581), since it's still an open construction project, to complain and ask questions.

I thought if anyone would know it would be you. I wonder about this everytime I go to a Thunder game since it is almost always dark at this time.

I thought I would too, but I can't figure this one out for the life of me. I emailed Meg Salyer and called the City Action Center yesterday and haven't heard back from either yet. As another poster said, I know OG&E typically replaces burnt out bulbs, maintenance, etc. But since this was a new project, I figured it's still in the city's hands until the lights are turned back on. Either way it's past RIDICULOUS and a JOKE. I agree with the poster that this city has a piss-poor policy or if we have a policy, we have a piss-poor enforcement system of verifying completed work. It's bad enough you have to twist an arm to get the city to admit the Asian District is a tourist attraction, what do we have to do to get the lights on. I'm calling the city's traffic dept. today, people please join me in complaining and get the lights on. Steve, any chance for a story to bring the story to "light" in hopes of getting an update from the city and the lights turned back on? You're welcome to interview me if it helps.

Hey Metro (or anybody else that knows),

On a similar topic, what's up with the somewhat new decorative streetlights that are installed over on 10th street west of western (I think)?

Every time I drive down 10th over that way, there are fixtures hanging loose and things seem to have been installed and left unmaintained.

I have been meaning to ask about this on here for quite some time.

Those aren't new, they've been there for several years. Call OG&E at the contact info above to complain and get them out there. I know exactly which ones you're talking about.

One of my biggest picks around here is how these folks with the city just approve crap without verifying compliance and completion and they dont get disciplined when they waste our money! Roads, buildings, streetlights, you name it. There wouldn't be shoddy contracting issues if the checks were only cut when the job met the two conditions above!

One of my jobs involves contract work and I know that we rarely run into customers who will pay us in full before the job is done.

Good point. I'm off to start a new thread on this - "Is City of OKC Over-Running Its Headlights?" I fear that they've taken on too much activity on the front end, and can't finish the jobs on the back end.

OK, I emailed the City the other day and got this response back:


The City is not responsible for the maintenance and operation of streetlights; they are maintained by OG&E. You can contact OG&E about this outage at 272-9595. We have also reported this to OG&E on several prior occasions, and it may be that the lights will not be turned on until contractors have finished work in this area.

Emailed them back this, this morning:


Thank you for following back up with me. I understand that OG&E maintains street lights, but I have not seen contractors out there in months and the work appears finished. Since the City and not OG&E is responsible for working with the contractors, I was wondering if the City has a mechanism for verifying if the work is completed, or what work remains.

It is of deep concern that the City has not seemed to follow up on work in one of our major districts or to verify/check completion of work. Does the City have a mechanism for verifying and approving completion of work? How does one find out which contractors are in charge of this project and who at the City they report to?

Any additional information will be much appreciated.

Its definately OGE. The only thing the contractors were to do was to provide an empty conduit system into the pole bases. They've been thru with that for months.

Had it been a contractor's responsibility, they would already be burning due to the permitting requirments associated with the overall project.

I was going to bid on that project till I found out OGE was providing the lights. Being an electrical contractor, the thrill went out of that project in a hurry. We kinda specialize in among other things, parking lot lighting. OG&E steals more business from us in that market than any competitor ever could. They "give" the lights away then build in the cost in their rate base. Tada!

The reply looks good. I will be interested to see what they say when/if they reply. E-mail responses from the city, to me, are very frustrating. 100% of the responses I've gotten have always pointed me to elsewhere.

Anyone else think that we need an app on the city's site (similar to the permit search) that shows a list (searchable as well) that lists all city projects whether planned/active/closed, the contractor awarded the project, bid amount, budget it comes out of, important dates (not necessarily just start and completion dates), and the dept and city employees assigned to the project, etc etc...

You know all of this info is already in-place. A lot of places already have an electronic means of tracking status of projects. I see this put to great use down in Louisiana, except they also put up a small sign at the project site that has the facts and you can see it from your car.

Just a thought. They could sure cut down their calls and e-mails quite a bit.

They "give" the lights away then build in the cost in their rate base. Tada!

That was my next question. So, the city (aka US taxpayers!) is still paying OG&E for the work in one way or another, correct? Even if it is only billed as a 'service' there still has to be some level of expectation and reasonable time frame to be met. And it is still not our job, as citizens, to follow OG&E around to finish the job. The city hired them and we pay the city employees to do the work. If a call needs to be put into OG&E, and especially if a complaint is made, it is the city's job to take care of it! And since, :ohno:, OG&E is the sole provider of the service, then there has to be some regulation to keep them from leaving our new light poles sitting dark. In the data world, this is called a Service Level Agreement.

As a corporation commission regulated monopoly, they have regulations but little expectations. LOL

But, yes you are absolutely correct!

Received the following email this morning:


Thank you for your inquiry, I thought I would have a response with timeline for you at this writing. OGE is generally responsible for the billing and repair/maintenance cost of light poles. The lights in this area are inconsistent with the OGE standard. The issue who will pay the regular monthly billing and be responsible for the maintenance and repair to lines and poles was not resolved before the installation. At this writing, Planning and Public Works staff are attempting to address this financial responsibility issue to establish the account. I am pleased to keep you posted on the outcome and timeline for turning the lights on.

Debi Martin
Chief of Staff - City Council

So we have a dispute over who's paying for the lighting.

You'd figure it'd be whomever was paying for it before, geez, we're talking about new fixtures, not a new area being lighted. On top of that, you'd think the City would have been smart enough to decide and resolve this a year or so ago when the project started, not months after it's over and citizens are emailing what the heck is going on.

So we have a dispute over who's paying for the lighting.

If it is a similar contract to the lighting that was just installed at my work then no not the lighting, rather the cost of the fixtures. I still don't quite understand how it works but for a very minimal increase in your monthly bill they will add fixtures for you. This I believe is what Dave was referring to them stealing his business. Anyway I would assume the city is bickering with them over the increase in the monthly bill rather than the actual cost of the lighting that was previously provided. That is all conjecture on my part though...

Are the lights even real lights? Maybe they are just decoration:demonslay

You'd figure it'd be whomever was paying for it before, geez, we're talking about new fixtures, not a new area being lighted. On top of that, you'd think the City would have been smart enough to decide and resolve this a year or so ago when the project started, not months after it's over and citizens are emailing what the heck is going on.

Completely agree.

...you'd think the City would have been smart enough to decide and resolve this a year or so ago when the project started, not months after it's over and citizens are emailing what the heck is going on.


This is where the Dee-Dee-Dee (http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=9102313013516874035&ei=bsqTSe2VG43I-gH96YGoDA&q=dee+dee+dee+song) factor comes in. I mean come on guys, after all, they worked sooo hard to get such nice decorative lights for us. We should be thankful and enjoy them for what they are. Decoration.

:elmer3: :ohno:



Sheez...I should handle paying customers like that at the airport and see how long it lasts.

(breaks then loses customer's checked bag, but still has the handle...puts bag tag on handle and sends just the handle as if everything is ay-okay and the customer won't notice that their handle is missing the bag!!!)

AGENT W/ CUSTOMER AT DESTINATION: "Well sir, your bag wasn't found before you boarded your flight, so we went ahead and sent what we had so the job would be complete. We take great pride in our work and apologize for your inconvenience. You'll need to call someone else because it's not our problem."

Noticed they were working on them today. Looks like more decorations going up as well.

they are on now.
were not on yesterday morning but i noticed something different today.
LIGHT.


edit: I catch the bus every morning right by Kamps at 6:30 am and noticed yesterday that the light(from old light on side of the road) above the bus stop bench was out. then this morning i noticed the new lights were on. it looks really good.

Good. I hope you're right. I drove by yesterday early morning and they were off. So let's hope they are back on for good now. I saw the ornamental decorations but they were still in wood crate boxes so I couldn't really tell what they were yet. Hopefully some foo dogs and such.

Good to hear that. I'll be sure and drive thru tonight. Hopefully they are done and they will still be working then.

And thanks to metro for riding the city to finish the job!

Drove by at lunch when picking the wife up for a lunch picnic. There were two foo dogs at NW 30th, then at the southern end was a dragon what I'd call "plaque". In the streets between were different shapes styles of pagodas and such things. Definitely makes it feel more Asian now. I too will hopefully check out the lights tonight and see if they work.

I know it has taken time, but this section of Classen has really turned out to be cool. Very good design and work to all of those invloved.

I agree. It looks great. The "Asians" have really taken that place from seedy ghetto to a trendy area. I honestyly like that they tear down and build new shopping centers. Becuase most of those old buidings were just ugly, and no makeover could help.