Trustees leave lighting issue in the dark

Staff report

Township trustees voted Monday to deny the pursuit of a lighting district for a group of streets.

Trustee Chairman David Ditzler said at the board’s regular meeting that residents who live on Meander Run, Edgewater Street and Backwater Cove, South Clearwater Cove and North Clearwater Cove circulated a petition. It initially showed about 66 percent of the streets’ front footage in favor of the district.

Front footage is the measurement of a parcel of land by the number of feet of street frontage.

Ditzler said that was more than enough for Ohio Edison to come in and do an engineering study to determine the cost of the district if it were to move forward.

“It would cost $324 per resident for the initial installation ... then $1 per month to operate the lights from that time forward,” he said. “It does change the aesthetics of your neighborhood or community.”

Ditzler said the installation would be slightly higher than normal because the lights that would go up on those streets would be hung lantern-style instead of off telephone poles.

Though about 30 residents showed up ready to voice their opinions on the matter, Ditzler said the board would forgo public comment and vote to deny further action.

Support for the project had dropped after the engineering study from 66 percent in favor to 33 percent.

Trustee Lisa Oles said she made the motion to deny based on residents’ “lack of support.”