Last week 107 streetlights in Windham were tagged with green signs announcing that the lights did not meet the criteria of the policy written by the energy advisory committee and approved by the Windham Town Council last June.
Windham
has been upgrading lights in all of its buildings to become more energy
efficient and will continue to do so, including the types of vehicles it will
buy in the future, according to town manager Tony Plante. So far none of the
changes have had a direct impact on anyone living in Windham, but this time
many in the community are concerned.
Ken
Cook on Kelly Lane took up a petition and got 100 percent participation from
the people on his street which stands to lose all of their lights. “They’re
going to put the neighborhoods into darkness. In these times of increased vandalism
and crime I can’t believe they want to turn the lights out,” Cook said.
When
assessing all of the streetlights in the community systematically, it was found
that eight additional lights were needed and would be added to make
intersections, dangerous curves or hills or other hazardous areas safer for
drivers and pedestrians.
“A couple of years ago the town got a grant
from Efficiency Maine to study its energy usage and come up with strategies for
reducing its energy usage, its energy footprint, its exposure to future energy
price fluctuations, and its energy costs. The town council adopted an energy
plan in 2011, and later formally created an energy advisory committee. The
committee has conducted energy audits of municipal buildings, and we have made
many improvements to reduce the town's energy use. More work still needs to be
done, and the streetlight review process is part of that broader effort,” said
Plante.
“It is not the policy of the Town of Windham
to use public funded street lights as ‘security lighting’ for private property,
or to illuminate business entrances or entrances to private streets,” according
to the written policy. This policy is adopted to balance the important public
safety purpose that street lighting serves with the cost of renting 335
streetlights in Windham.
“Public
safety is number one in priorities. It’s one of the reasons for having
streetlights – to see and be seen,” Plante said. He explained that lights have
been added over the last 25 years where they might not have been needed.
There
will be a public meeting on the streetlight review process on November 4 at
6:30 p.m. in the town council chambers before the lights are turned off for
good. There are options for keeping the lights on, according to the town.
Individuals may request that lights remain on town accounts, or have the lights
transferred to private accounts managed by Central Maine Power (CMP). This is
the opportunity for the community to make a legitimate plea for keeping a
light.
The
town’s streetlights are owned and managed by CMP, according to Plante. Windham
rents the lights from CMP By turning off these lights, Windham will see a
savings of approximately $12,000, he said.
CMP
does not rent LED lights, which use less energy, according to Plante. However,
all of Windham’s traffic signals have been converted to LED lights.
“We
are using energy that doesn’t need to be used,” Plante said. The town is
concerned about its energy footprint. How much energy does it use? Why is
Windham paying for lights that don’t meet its written policy? These are the
questions the council and town officials are wrestling with.
“This
is not a done deal,” Plante said. “As energy prices go up, motor fuel, heating
oil, it creates budget stress. We want to have less exposure to those kinds of
financial fluctuations,” Plante said.
The
town is encouraging everyone with concerns attend the Monday night meeting at
6:30 p.m.
The
policy and a map showing which lights meet the policy, and which lights do not can
be found at http://www.windhamweb.com/Windham_News/Streetlight_Review_Process.html
. A large format hard copy of the map is available for review in the Planning
office.
For more information on this process, please contact Ben Smith in the planning department at 894-5900, ext. 6123.
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