Philomath’s switch to LED streetlights will pay for itself through electricity savings in less than four years, according to the city’s first-quarter strategic plan update presented to the Philomath City Council on Monday night.
City Manager Chris Workman walked councilors through the report, which covers July through September, the first three months of the 2026-27 fiscal year. The update also touched on a potential planning grant for Main Street outside downtown, emergency preparedness and this year’s Citizens Academy.
Workman said the city has worked to keep the strategic plan from becoming a document that is updated once a year and then forgotten.
“Staff and the management team look at this document as a management team together once a month at a minimum,” Workman said. “Then once a quarter, we report back to you as the council with a status update.”
According to the report, all 207 of the city’s high-pressure sodium and mercury vapor streetlights have been replaced with energy-efficient LED lights, cutting total wattage by 68% to 89%. A grant from Energy Trust of Oregon covered half the project’s cost.
Not everyone has welcomed the change. Mayor Christopher McMorran said he has received several Facebook messages and emails from residents unhappy with the new lights.
“I want anyone watching this meeting to know — for every one of those emails or Facebook messages I’ve gotten, I’ve driven to the corner that they were complaining about and looked at it. And I get it,” McMorran said. “But they’re not like ‘searchlight’ bright. They’re still streetlights.”
Councilor Rich Saalsaa added that the LED lights represent “the dimmest light in the spectrum that we could get.”
McMorran said the city wants to know about any light that is pointed in the wrong direction. He added that studies show the color tone of the new lights is safer.
Elsewhere, the city is considering applying next spring for a planning grant through Oregon’s Transportation and Growth Management program, a joint effort of the Oregon Department of Transportation and the Department of Land Conservation and Development. The grant would fund a corridor plan for Main Street in the commercial areas outside downtown.
Workman said the plan would look at medians, intersections, pedestrian and bicycle amenities and street lighting. It would also consider how much of the downtown streetscape project could be carried into those areas.
“We recognize it’s not downtown. It’s still a commercial corridor,” Workman said. “There may still be some things we want to do there.”
He said the plan would pay particular attention to safety issues, especially at 19th Street.
Workman described two possible ways to pay for improvements once the plan is complete. One is a large funding package, such as a bond measure, focused on safety projects. The other is a new urban renewal district, which would pay for a major project up front and repay the debt over 20 years as property values rise.
“Either way, we need the plan, and we need some cost estimates,” Workman said. He added that staff isn’t going into the planning process with either option in mind. Instead, the city would see what the plan and its price tag look like and then bring options back to the council.
The report notes that the two firms that originally responded to the city’s request for proposals to develop its property at 14th and Main backed away. The council approved a revised design-build RFP, with responses currently due Dec. 7.
During the discussion, officials indicated that the deadline will likely be pushed back. The time from the week before Thanksgiving through December can make it hard to get responses.
“Contractors don’t like working through the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays,” Workman said.
Councilor Diane Crocker pointed to the plan’s goal of educating residents about emergency preparedness. She said Bryan Lee, Benton County’s emergency manager and a Philomath resident, was scheduled to speak to a seniors group at City Hall on Tuesday morning.
A class taking part in the Sustainable Cities Year Program will also work on the city’s emergency plan. Workman said such classes usually help communities that lack a plan altogether. Philomath already has one, so the students will focus on making it more accessible to the public.
“It’s really making it so people are aware of it, they know where to access it and they know what their role is,” Workman said. “And so they’re really going to focus on making it more digestible.”
McMorran said Lee is scheduled to speak to the council in February. That timing will allow newly elected members to take part.
Plans for a permanent emergency fuel tank remain on hold. Workman said a tank mounted on axles raises other issues and was not a high priority for the council, so staff are still looking at other options.
In response to a question from Councilor Jessica Andrade, Workman said this year’s Citizens Academy wraps up at the end of October. Graduates are expected to be recognized at a November council meeting.
Attendance has been five to seven people at most sessions, with a core group of four or five. That’s a smaller cohort than last year, he said. The academy was not held in the two years before that.
“I will say the folks who are coming are very engaged,” Workman said.
McMorran praised Workman for including strategic plan highlights in his regular manager’s reports.
“You do this every day; we come in here once or twice a month,” McMorran said. “It’s hard for us to keep track of things, so this is super important.”
Workman called the plan “the sword and the shield.” He said it lets staff set aside good ideas that the city doesn’t have time to pursue so they can stay focused on the council’s priorities. He credited that focus with the city’s success last year.
He also referred to the mayor’s analogy of a general contractor.
“You hire the general contractor to do the work, and then you let them do the work. You don’t show up every morning and change the plan,” Workman said. “That analogy rings true, and I think the city is benefiting from that.”
