BY MATT SCHOOLEY
Many Bow residents are now in the dark, as 60 percent of the town’s streetlights have been permanently turned off.
Lights are shut off everywhere in town except at major intersections, saving approximately $25,000 a year for the town.
Faced with having to cut approximately $472,000 from the budget, Bow selectmen saw streetlights as one way to save money.
“It will affect people who have been used to having publicly funded lights in their neighborhood. There are those of us who have lights on their property, and people can do the same if they feel like they need to have the area lit. There are options out there,” said Bow selectmen Chairman Leon Kenison.
Bow resident Ray Cote said he leaves an energy-saving bulb on at his house every night.
“Are we helpless? We can certainly fend for ourselves,” said Cote.
Kenison said it may take awhile for some people in town to get over this.
"If we have some high accident areas, we will ask the (police) chief and public works director to assess the needs,” he said. “This will be more in reality as our darkness areas increase. As kids go back to school and it gets dark earlier, it will be a lot more obvious.”
Kenison has also gotten much feedback from the community about turning off the streetlights.
“It’s all been negative, but these same folks were not around at the Town Meeting to give a voice about where they thought the cuts could be made,” he said.
Logging Hill Road resident Frank Colby said he has spoken with other residents about the cuts, and many are upset.
“The justification is childish. Instead of taking their lumps and waiting until next year’s budget to make adjustments, they are making these cuts instead. It’s like a childish prank,” said Colby. “I think the crime rates may go up as a result of the streetlights being out.”
Bow resident Ken Blevens is also disappointed with the decision.
“Assuming the cut in the town budget was to reduce a proposed 11 percent increase to a 6 percent increase, it would have made more sense to eliminate a new item that wold have been paid for with the loss of 5 percent and not try to send a political message by taking away something that has been part of the budget for as long as anyone can remember,” he said.
Kenison said athletic groups in town have also voiced concern, because the town was forced to cut out the painting of fields in the town to save money. Volunteers will now have to paint the lines on their own.
Bow Police Chief Jeff Jaran has also been receiving calls from the public.
“The complaints are starting to roll in. My response to those people is that this was not any big secret, it was played out in a number of newspapers and obviously at the selectmen’s meetings,” said Jaran. “I would ask these same people who are complaining to pay more attention to town government, because this is nothing I wanted to see happen. Yet, at the same time, we had to make some cuts out of the budget.”
Shaving costs in the areas the selectmen found also saved the town from having to make cuts from the police and fire departments.
“With the increase in activity that our department has seen over the years, the selectmen were faced with the decision of whether or not to take officers off the street, or do they try to be creative and find other ways to come up with the money,” said Jaran.