Dark to light – Bow reasseses decision to turn off street lights

Bow Editor — Thu, 20 Sep 2007 00:25:00 GMT

After concerned residents packed the Bow Board of Selectmen meeting last Thursday, board members are going to reassess their decision to shut off 60 percent of the street lights in town.

Board members, who made the move to save about $25,000 as they were forced to make budget cuts in many areas, are not considering turning all of the lights on, according to Town Manager Jim Pitts, as it will cost $18 to turn each light back.

“We are looking at the decision again to a point. The selectmen asked me to identify the intersections where the lights being out is a problem,” he said. “We may look at the possibility of turning the lights on at all intersections rather than the ones identified previously as dangerous.”

Pitts said last week’s meeting may have brought together a large number of angry residents, but at no point did it get out of hand.

“Last Thursday’s meeting was civil,” he said. “There was no shouting or pounding on the table. The residents that were there stated their opinions. What they need to be able to understand is that street lights aren’t the only place we made the cuts.
Every department was hit.”

The street light debate has sparked another issue in town. The reason many residents were upset was they felt blindsided by the decision. However, those on the other side of the argument say the issue was played out in a very public way.

For most selectmen meetings, there are only two or three residents in attendance, according to Pitts. Though the street light issue has raised town interest for the time being, Pitts said that interest might fade.

“The selectmen would prefer good crowds, it makes their job easier,” he said. “I’ve been involved in municipal management for 20 years, and in my experience, people aren’t coming to meetings unless they are excited about something.”

Martin Legg, a resident of Bow, began circulating a petition to get the street lights turned back on and brought it before the town.

“There were a lot of neighbors who wanted the lights back on, and not everyone can go to meetings,” he said. “Personally, I don’t care. I am just concerned for the kids.”

Although Legg has been involved in the street light cause, he said he doesn’t often attend meetings.

“I don’t care to (attend meetings). I think there is a lot of garbage and a lot that goes on is a waste of time,” he said.

Another resident, Rob Duval, who has spoken out over the recent events, is not concerned about the lights as much as he is the number of people who said they weren’t aware of the decision.

“Not many people go to town meetings,” he said. “The way I feel is if you aren’t going to go, then don’t complain. The lights haven’t bothered me at all, personally. They chose to make this decision and they made it public.”

Duval said the petition that was formulated indicated residents were upset because they felt they should not have to go to
the meeting to find out what is going on in town.

“I think that’s a poor attitude,” he said. “If you are going to be involved, you have to go not just when you’re a victim.”

Lights out – Street lights shut off as a result of budget cuts

Bow Editor — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 22:31:00 GMT

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.

Bow News : electricity

Dark to light – Bow reasseses decision to turn off street lights

Lights out – Street lights shut off as a result of budget cuts