Troy Hill Citizens wanted all of our membership to know that we began the project of hanging Christmas lights along Lowrie St. this year, as was done in the past. However, we did run into obstacles that require long term repairs, and so are sad to report that there will not be THC sponsored Christmas Lights in our business district this year.
The Northside Leadership Conference once again permitted us to be a rider on their insurance policy to save us money. The Board paid for that necessary insurance and also for the Duquesne Light electrical cost; our electrical system, however, failed the required electrical inspection. After consultation with an electrician, the cost of repairs was estimated to be at least $1,000 to $1,100.
The difficult decision we faced this season was whether to spend that much money on last minute stop-gap repairs to a 35 year-old electrical system when we have already been advised by an electrician that the system should be thoroughly serviced and perhaps updated. Given that there has been virtually no maintenance attention given to this electrical lighting system over the past years it is entirely possible that even with this year’s repairs it might fail inspection again next year anyway.
It’s clear that the system needs to be serviced to bring it up to modern standards.
As a result, the Board has decided that we will not hang and light Christmas lights this year. In the coming years the Board of Directors will be looking for funding to update our electrical system so that we can return to our Christmas lighting in the future.
We appreciate your patience with this matter. We wanted to be as forthright as possible about why you are not seeing the lights, but needed to gather all of the facts first. Should you have any questions about the lights, the repairs needed, and our plans to address those issues, please contact Tony Benvin, as Tony has been in contact with all of the concerned parties on behalf of THC to date.
Thank you,
Don Mahaney
Chairperson
Troy Hill Citizens, Inc.