JAY – The Selectboard unanimously moved to schedule a special town meeting on Dec. 8, with residents to decide whether to authorize the transfer of funds to keep the town’s remaining 284 streetlights running.
The warrant will ask residents if they want to transfer up to $6,000 out of the Undesignated Fund balance and into the town’s Streetlights and Hydrants account. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. on Monday, Dec. 8 at the town office, with the regular Selectboard agenda to follow.
At the June town meeting, Jay residents approved a reduced budget for the town’s street lights, at the recommendation of the budget committee and selectpersons. The 25 percent reduction in the $64,000 annual cost represented shutting off at least 100 of the town’s 400 streetlights. Selectpersons then approved the formation of a committee, comprised of town officials, selectpersons and residents, to research the town’s streetlight locations and recommend which ones to shut off.
After meeting with residents and considering issues such as public safety, school district bus stops and risky intersections, the committee proposed shutting off approximately 130 lights. The locations were toured during the day and night, and residents losing a nearby light were given an opportunity to keep it on at their own expense. The Selectboard later approved that list, and Central Maine Power was told to begin shutting lights off.
According to Town Manager Shiloh LaFreniere, Jay had been paying for 397 standard streetlights prior to the Selectboard approving the committee’s list, as well as another 17 “special facilities,” which included lights with special features or ones that hadn’t been installed by CMP. When the town’s quota had been fully reduced, it would be paying for 270 lights, plus 14 special facilities.
According to the town’s calculations, that should have been enough to meet its new, reduced budget. However, rates were increasing, LaFreniere said, costing Jay an additional $2,300 to run its reduced number of lights. Additionally, the streetlights weren’t being turned off instantly; they have to be uninstalled by a CMP crew. The town had accrued approximately $2,000 to $3,000 in costs associated with the delay.
That would leave Jay’s “Streetlights and Hydrants” account potentially more than $5,000 in the red by the end of the fiscal year, LaFreniere said. The town had two choices: hold a special town meeting to transfer funds to cover the increased expense or turn off more lights to meet the 25 percent reduction to the budget.
The board decided against turning off more lights and instead voted to schedule a special town meeting. If the funding wasn’t approved, LaFreniere noted at a previous meeting, the town would need to move quickly to shut down more lights. As the end of the fiscal year approached, she said, the savings from shutting down each light decreased as well.
The Dec. 8 selectboard meeting, which will follow the single-article special town meeting, will likely be the board’s only meeting in December. The board decided against meeting on Dec. 22, barring an emergency, due to Christmas falling three days later.
The board also agreed to a budget process schedule which would result in the annual town meeting being held on April 28, the same date as the school referendum vote. Town and school officials have stated that having the polls open on one occasion would save money and drum up additional interest in both budget approval processes.
In checking with Maine Municipal Association, LaFreniere said, she determined that selectpersons would begin serving their terms immediately following the town meeting, rather than waiting for June. The seats held by Selectpersons Pearl Cook and Board Chair Stephen McCourt will be up for reelection this year.
