Council talks ‘smart city’ privacy, costs

Agreements would convert streetlights to LEDs, add cameras, more

As the Yuma City Council discussed agreements that could potentially make it a “smart city,” members touched on several key concerns: privacy, financing and whether the money would be better used on roads.

The council debated the agreements during a Tuesday work session. The agreements are part of the agenda for Wednesday’s regular meeting.

If approved, an agreement with Siemens Industry would convert the city’s streetlights to LEDs, which officials say would save the city more than $3.85 million over the next 10 years in energy and operational costs. The cost to the city would be $3.71 million.

The council also discussed agreements with anyCOMM Holdings Corp., which would investment $10 million in Yuma, providing street lighting control, a citywide high-speed wireless network and “improved public safety and security” through the use of cameras in exchange for use of the photocell sockets on the streetlights.

Rob Praske, CEO of anyCOMM, and Eric Holder of Siemens attended the work session. Praske told the council he was excited to bring his company’s “smart city solution” in Yuma, which would be a first in Arizona.

“It’s great opportunity to come and invest in great connectivity, public safety features and everything you’ve heard about smart city technology,” he said.

Raske said anyCOM wants to expand and is “aggressively looking” at the state and “very intently” at Yuma.

Asked by Councilor Jacob Miller why they were considering Yuma, Raske replied, “You’ve got a group of forward-thinking individuals. They’re easy to work with.” He added that city staff has proven to be “very tech based, very knowledgeable.”

However, some council members brought up concerns, such as privacy. “I want to make sure it cannot be sued to snoop on anybody or monitor some-

one’s conversation and that it’s impossible for someone to rig the system,” Council- man Mike Shelton said.

Raske reassured him that the technology could not be used to eavesdrop or snoop. “The technology is secure, protected, no one is listening, watching … It’s completely encrypted. There’s no connectivity to the outside world,” he said.

Mayor Doug Nicholls then noted the city is working on putting together an ordinance on how the data collected from the technology could be used.

Deputy Gary Knight asked about shields to prevent glare from streetlights entering private residences. He was told the city would have shields that could be installed as needed, but that LEDs are usually directed downward.

Raske also noted anyCOMM has a lifetime warranty, and if there is new technology in the future, they would update it.

Miller also asked about the possibility of financing rather than paying $3.71 million out of pocket. He said the money could be better used to fix “roads in extremely bad condition.”

Wilkinson reiterated the savings from the agreements could be used to fix roads and that ultimately there would be more money for roads over the 10 years.

Sheldon asked about other financing options so as to free that money for street repairs. Wilkinson said there are only two options: bonding and having an outside company finance it. However, he said, bonding would be too expensive for $3 million, and if an outside company financed it, ownership of the 7,500 lights — and the valuable “real estate” it provides — would transfer to the company. Councilor Gary Wright asked about doing the project in phases and using some of the money to fix roads. Nicholls pointed out that anyCOMM was looking for a whole city to implement the project, and that the opportunity would not be coming back. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” he said. Wright asked Public Works Director Joel Olea which got more complaints: roads or lights. Olea said that about 80 lights go out every month, so currently there are more complaints about lights going out. He added that with LEDs replacing the highpressure sodium lights currently in use, that issue would go away, saving the money in maintenance and supplies. Councilor Edwards Thomas noted the city wouldn’t have enough money to fix all the roads in Yuma, even if it used those funds for repairs. He called the “smart city” deals a “win-win-win” because the savings could be

used to fix roads. Nicholls called it a “unique partnership” and pointed out that the anyCOMM wireless network nodes would have to be simultaneously installed at the same time the streetlights were converted to LEDs. “We can’t kick it down the road,” he said.