By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
10/1/09
The streetlights the town has turned off will soon be turned back on.
That’s because the Selectmen decided last week to abandon a plan to turn off half the lights in town to save money.
It was thought that the town could save $80,000 by having half the streetlights go dark. But Selectmen say overwhelming negative response and schematic challenges have altered their outlook about going forward with the plan.
“It’s very disconcerting to hear the calls I’m getting,” Selectmen Chair John Shields said at the board’s Sept. 24 meeting, adding that the most calls are coming from elderly residents concerned that the streets are getting too dark.
Selectman Kathy Fagan agreed, saying that the plan is “clearly not” working in terms of achieving savings for the town.
“The whole purpose of this was savings,” she said.
Because there are several areas in town where lights need to be kept on for safety reasons, officials have indicated that having 50 percent of the lights out isn’t feasible as it was originally thought.
Residents have also been unclear which lights the town has turned off and which are burning out on their own, officials said.
“That concerns me. I thought we were on a regular schedule of replacing our lights,” Selectman Marion McEttrick said.
McEttrick said she “didn’t want” to go ahead with the plan in the first place, fearing the “anxiety it would cause.” She had not previously voiced opposition to the plan.
Public Works Director Joseph Lynch said his department has been swamped with calls since the lights have been going out.
As of Sept. 24, when he discussed the issue with Selectmen, Lynch said the DPW had turned off 559 of the town’s 3,244 lights.
“And from Aug. 15 to Sept. 15, we probably fielded 15 to 20 calls or e-mails every day,” he said.
“This whole thing is ridiculous. It’s not worth the aggravation,” said Shields. “I would suggest that we abandon ship on this as soon as possible and start turning these lights back on.”
As a result of their discussion, Selectmen requested that the DPW “reverse course” on the streetlight plan, turning back on lights it had turned off. The town will consider other ways to achieve similar savings, which may include installing energy-efficient LED lights in the fixtures. Officials indicated cuts to the DPW may also be necessary, but did not detail where those would be made.
Lynch said the original intent of the streetlight plan was “totally reasonable” but it just didn’t work for Milton.
“There are dozens of communities that are doing exactly this,” he said.