A $3.8 million proposal would remove three styles of lights installed over the years in favor of a 15-foot-tall aluminum lamp post designed to look like ones that stood on Stillwater's Main Street a century ago. The plan will receive a hearing before City Council on Tuesday.

The new LED lights would stand about 60 feet apart along most major streets in downtown and as far west as Third Street between Olive and Myrtle streets. Installation could begin as soon as this year, city staff said.

The project would occur in two waves, said Shawn Sanders, director of public works, one west of Main Street and the other to include Main Street and East of Main. The lights would be city owned and maintained.

Xcel Energy could replace lights with a system of their design, said Sanders, but the pole styles available from the utility don't include the historic pole that the city would prefer to use. The Xcel plan would cost some $2.6 million, according to materials prepared for the City Council.

Funding for the new lights could come from a variety of sources, Sanders said. Some unused funds from the American Rescue Plan Act could contribute about $1 million. A portion of the project could be assessed to the 529 properties that will see new lights installed along the sidewalks adjacent to their properties, which would raise about $346,000 through assessments ranging from $400 to $13,000.

The city also receives municipal state aid dollars for improvements to certain streets within the downtown area which could generate about $1.2 million. The city's lighting fund, which charges all Stillwater property owners a flat fee for street lights, could generate some of the needed funds with a $2.50 to $5 per quarter increase in the rate. Finally, the city also has asked the state Legislature for bonding money to help pay for the lights, Sanders said.

The 241 new lights would include pole attachments for banners, flags, signs and flowerpots. They would replace three different types of street lights now in use: the 129 35-foot tall roadway lights installed in 1990, the 61 lantern-style lights installed in 1999, and the historic lighting in Lowell Park, Commercial Street Plaza and the Lift Bridge Concourse.

A package of materials prepared for Tuesday's meeting shows that lamp posts similar to the ones proposed for the new lighting plan were used in downtown Stillwater from at least 1928 to 1957.