let there be street lights - solar street light project

When the municipal budget reaches a critical point, it seems to be a simple concept: turn off the street lights and save money.
But Milton Town finds that it's not easy.
Comprehensive factors-
Busy intersections and winding roads, potential huge utility costs, complete power cuts, and complaints from residents. -
Turn to its streets-
The light shutdown program becomes a large shutdown.
Since the end of July, the town has shut down 400 of its 3300 street lamps, but after September 1, the town began to reopen the lights.
Twenty-four votes were cast by the Selection Committee to close the plan. By mid-
In November, all the lights that have been turned off are expected to resume operation, with the exception of a few nearby residents who were disturbed at night and asked to be closed in the town.
Milton had hoped to save about $80,000 of the $180,000 a year by turning off half of the lights.
But "Ultimately, it's not a cost. -
"It works," said Marion McTrick, a female contestant. The street-
In May, the City Council approved the lights-out plan to save jobs in the budget of the Ministry of Public Works.
But Walter Heller, the former Democratic Progressive Party chief, left office in February to work in a state government with five people. -
The one-month gap before Joseph Lynch was hired in July meant that the project was starting slowly.
Kevin Mearn, mayor, said: "Obviously, it took a while for the new director to keep up with the pace. "
Almost from the beginning, the goal of reducing streets-
Such a large low budget seems too ambitious.
Lighting must also be maintained at road intersections and dangerous areas, as well as at hills and road bends.
In some streets, two adjacent lights are on for safety reasons, which means that two continuous lights will be turned off along the street, causing complaints from residents.
Many trees along town roads are another complex factor.
"Residents have attracted attention, especially the elderly," Milne said.
According to the 2000 census, 16% of Milton residents are over 65 years old.
"We don't want people to be afraid to go out at night," McTrick said.
Some residents expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that voters turned off street lights as soon as they passed $3.
In June, 42 million people overturned Proposal 2, although McTrick said-
The light plan has never relied on a veto vote. (
About half of the overtaking money goes to schools in the town, and the rest is allocated to other departments to offset the estimated $1.
Local assistance decreased by $2 million and local income by $600,000. )
It may also have to pay high fees. -
According to city officials, a lamp could be as high as $300. -
To the installation of power facilities, completely cut off the current of the device.
The town has been using two of its own. -
DPW staff were asked to remove the photocell from the town's lighting.
But the current is still flowing into the fixture, and it is obviously not a simple job to cut off the current pole by pole.
NSTAR spokesman Mike Durant said the company had met with Milton officials several times to discuss what the town wanted to do and possible costs.
"We have no objection to the removal of the photocell, but there is still an electric current flowing into the fixture and consuming energy," he said.
We discussed some ways to stop the current and set up a "red lid" at the turning point. -off lights.
Obviously, if our staff are involved, or if they want to remove the lamps from the lamp pole, there will be a charge.
McTrick said let all the DPP members be full-
Turn-off time also means less time to repair and replace existing street lights. The Sept.
This decision does not mean that the town has abandoned efforts to demolish the streets. -light bill.
Lynch is now looking elsewhere in the budget for the $80,000 savings planned.
Officials are studying the gradual replacement of sodium vapor lamps with light. -
Light-emitting diodes, or LED lights, use about 50% of the energy consumed by sodium vapor lamps.
"We may need a capital bond, but it's worth it in the long run," McTrick said.
Other communities in Massachusetts are still pursuing street savings. -light turnoffs.
In August, some voters in Andorra voted to pass a restrictive plan that would use only five or more lights to affect the streets.
The town's chief executive, John F, said Webster had turned off 600 of the 1,500 street lights and saved $60,000. McAuliffe.
Fitzburg has extinguished 1,900 3,100 street lights and hopes to save about $260,000 this fiscal year, although residents have been issuing petitions to turn off some of them, according to Lenny Laakso, director of its Democratic Progressive Party. -offs reversed.
The city government assesses similar measures, including Dennis, who has identified about 830 lights that can be turned off to save $55,000, said town administrator Richard White.
The town will hold a public hearing on the proposal on October 10. 20.
Rich Fahey can be contacted at faheywrite@yahoo. com.