More streetlights may soon be coming to Starke Street in Hamlet. Two years ago, the town installed decorative streetlights on the east side of the street, across from the town hall, as the first part of a four-phase project. But the town council has held off on doing additional phases to focus on other projects, such as the recent Community Crossings project farther north on Starke Street.
During Wednesday’s meeting, council member Brian Earnest suggested reviving the effort, especially since the town has decided to hold off on a Community Crossings grant application for Railroad Street improvements until January.
Engineer Lee Nagai said that prices may have gone up a bit since the initial estimate. “The underground part really needs to be done next,” he said. “I can contact people again and see where they’re at. The only bad thing is I know everybody’s super-busy now. When we talked about it before, things were slower. Guys were looking for work. Now, guys are looking to figure out how to get out of work.”
The next phase would either add decorative lights across the street from the existing ones, or on the same side the next block over.
Council President Dave Kesvormas offered another idea: adding lights to the recently-upgraded stretch of Starke Street between Plymouth Street and U.S. 30. “The lighting down there is still horrible,” he said. “I mean, even though we’ve added a streetlight, it’s still dark down there, and it’s getting dark earlier.”
Nagai felt the project would be relatively simple. “I gave you guys an estimate on the fixtures, and the conduit’s in there,” he said. “I think the connection point – we would connect to electric at your lift station. That’s not a big deal. It won’t draw that much power. So really, the biggest expense there’s going to be the lights, and I think we’ll probably get the bases poured pretty reasonably.”
Nagai suggested that council members decide on a budget number to work with, and that one of them meet with him individually to narrow down options.
