11/19/2024
OUR DARK STREETS
Many of you have noticed that only about half the street lights in our neighborhood are working. Unfortunately, it's no longer just burnt-out bulbs that have caused the street lights to be out. The underground wiring has failed.
When our neighborhood was built in 2002-2005, the developer installed the lights. Hellgate Meadows Residential Neighborhood Association has been responsible for maintaining them ever since the developer turned over responsibility to us, the residents, in 2010.
Since then, we have been able to maintain the lights at a reasonable cost, even changing to energy efficient LED lamps in 2017. Unfortunately, (and unbeknownst to the Board until 2022) the underground wiring was laid directly into the soil rather than in conduit. Over the years, rocks and tree roots have damaged the wiring. To have NorthWestern Energy install a new lighting system with underground wiring in conduits for us to lease would cost $2,000/month or more. It would cost over $250,000 to have a contractor install new underground wiring in conduit for the existing street lights that we own. The Board considers both these options unaffordable.
To see if solar lights would work for us, we had one solar-powered street light installed on the east end of the "park" oval at the corner of Dublin and Galway. So far, it seems to be working nicely. Check it out! We want to see how well it will work through our cloudy winter. Unfortunately, solar lights, too, are rather expensive, but not as expensive as the other options, and much easier to repair should that be needed (no digging required).
This will be a big topic for discussion at our next General Meeting, which will be in February or March next year (date not set yet). We'd love to have a large group of homeowners join this meeting, so we can make some good choices about street lighting in our neighborhood. We hope you can be there!
Meanwhile, we are encouraging neighbors who are concerned about dark streets to keep their porch lights on.
