One week after installing flashing amber lights on school zone signs outside of the Winnipeg Mennonite Elementary and Middle School, Chuck Lewis still has not had a promised meeting with the city.

After four years of talking with the city about installing the lights, offering to buy them, install them and maintain them at a cost of about $1.2 million, discussions dried up in December. Last week he took matters into his own hands and installed one set without permission of the city to force the discussions to start again.

Distroscale

After the promise of a phone call for Wednesday, he took down the lights. As of Thursday there had been no phone call from the city.

“I was taking them at their word that they would reach out to me,” said Lewis.

The kicker is, he has been contacted to make a presentation in Brandon about the lights because there is interest in having them installed there.

It is a frustrating note for Lewis who is out to improve the safety for students in Winnipeg — the installation of the lights would also come with a presentation to students about their operation and safety.

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“That means a small community might be getting them before Winnipeg,” he said. “To me that would be a real good slap in the face of Winnipeg.”

The lights are installed in most major cities in Canada already, Winnipeg is one of the few outliers.

It is to the point where he said he has been contacted by another private individual who has offered to buy 18 school zone beacons at a cost of about $150,000 and install the lights himself without city permission.

“Everybody is getting tired of the game,” said Lewis. “They’re saying if they’re not going to act, what will they do if you just put them up?”

Lewis said he is still hopeful talks will get going again, but may just take matters into his own hands on a grand scale.

“In the end, I’ve already purchased the beacons, so they are going to go up, I’m not going to have them sit in my office for another four years.”

A spokesperson for the Public Works Department said they are still working on an agreement with Lewis and Expert Electrical.

“While we recognize that it’s taking some time to conclude the agreement, we’re confident that it will be finalized this spring,” they said. “In the meantime, we are continuing to test one of the light units at a City facility to review their reliability, as we do not generally rely on solar-powered units for such equipment. Once an agreement has been finalized, we’ll determine a rollout/installation schedule.”

jaldrich@postmedia.com

Twitter: @JoshAldrich03