Town may get all new street lights

Coulee Dam may be in line for a grant that would replace all its street lights with energy saving systems.

Public works director Barry Peacock told the town council last week that the town is entering phase two in a grant from the Transportation Improvement Board to replace some 300 town street lights with new energy efficient lights, including installation costs.

Peacock said the new lights, if the grant progresses, will cut energy costs for the lights by 50 percent.

He said the new fixtures cost about $400 each.

He said the town was notified by a letter to Mayor Quincy Snow in mid-March and that representatives from TIB would be here April 9, to review the town’s needs.

Peacock said Coulee Dam was one of six small communities in the state to gain the grant. Now the grant is only a visit away.

In the TIB letter, it was stated that the town would not have a matching fund requirement, and the grant would include installation.

The TIB team will determine the construction process for each of the six communities that have been notified that they are being considered.

The letter said that TIB engineer Clint Ritter will oversee the work, and that if Coulee Dam gets over the phase two part of the grant, the new lighting should be installed by the end of the year.