Hamlet’s new decorative streetlights are getting some positive feedback. Town Council President Dave Kesvormas says he’s gotten a lot of complements about the new lights on Starke Street. “It almost looks like a runway when you come in late at night when it’s foggy,” Kesvormas said during Wednesday’s council meeting. “It looks pretty cool.”
The town installed two decorative streetlights in 2016, but the next phase took five years to happen. Now, two more lights have been added across the street from the first two, right in front of the Town Hall, while six have been placed along the sidewalk on the north end of Starke Street. Kesvormas suggested looking into getting more lights to fill in some dark spots, if money is left over at the end of the year.
Council Member Brian Earnest was hopeful that Hamlet will eventually get to the rest of the phases. “We’ll see where it is, obviously, money-wise, but eventually, we do want to get all four of these blocks, this whole block on both sides,” he said.
Council members Wednesday also discussed which sections of Starke Street’s sidewalks could use some upgrades. However, they said they’re not planning to offer a 50/50 sidewalk replacement program this fall, due to some funding uncertainty. Hamlet is still waiting to hear whether it’s been selected for a Community Crossings matching grant, and local income tax revenues are expected to take a major hit next year, as a delayed result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
