Street light removal off council's agenda

MERRIMACK – The 240 or so lights that could be shut off to save money will no longer be taken up at the Town Council’s Thursday evening meeting.

The council was scheduled to consider a proposal to remove 240 lights from 126 town roads, a plan that could save the town $23,000 in electric bills, but an updated meeting agenda distributed Monday shows that the topic has been removed.

Hickey and council Chairman Thomas Mahon weren’t immediately available to explain the change.

In his memo, Hickey admitted that hitting the switch on some streetlights could save money but may be controversial to residents living near those lights.

The cost to operate streetlights has risen during the past four years, Hickey wrote: up from $69,000 in 2006 to $87,000 this past fiscal year, which ended June 30.

The cost of removing the 240 lights would be $66,000, said Kyle Fox, operations manager in the town Public Works Department, so the town would not see a payback for three years.