A Knox neighborhood may soon be getting streetlights. Mayor Dennis Estok recently told the city council that he got a request for lights on Short Drive. “They’ve got one streetlight,” Estok explained. “That’s 500 East, and the T right there, no streetlights whatsoever.”
Adding the five streetlights recommended by NIPSCO would cost the city about $900 a year in electricity costs. Estok said the final decision is up to the city’s planning commission.
But he also noted that things like streetlights and trees should actually be installed by the developer. Now, Estok is calling for better oversight from the planning commission in the future. “When you guys approve subdivisions or anything like that, you’ve got to think of the lighting,” he said. “The lighting has to be there. There’s no charge. NIPSCO don’t charge us for the poles or anything like that. They just make their money back on the bill.”
Estok acknowledged that streetlights can easily be missed in the approval process, but they are a service that is supposed to be offered to city residents.
