Snowflake lights....how much do they really cost?

One of the things that the mayor said during the budget discussions was the possibility of turning off some of the street lights to save money. Perhaps every other one or something like that. One of the councilmen replied that the savings would not be that much. It would be a shame to turn off the lights when they just put up all those neat snowflakes.

Has anyone actually figured the cost of keeping those snowflakes on. After all we are in the midst of a budget crisis. They are beautiful and add some style to the downtown. The mayor was later heard to say that he wished someone had told him how much power those snowflakes used. It seems that recently the snowflakes caused the city wide power outage in Ortonville. All of the snowflakes have been removed and they are replacing each of the bulbs with a more efficient type bulb. The new bulbs were purchased but a local business was not given the chance to bid on them. I am sure there is a logical reason that the city spent all that money on new bulbs without shopping locally.

It does make one wonder though as to the effectiveness of the infrastructure of the City if some lights on the main street can "blow a fuse" so to speak.

Looking over the Minutes of the Utility committee on February 13, 2009 it states that Donnette Herberg for the Big Stone Lake Area Chamber of Commerce requested that the city pay for the replacement of the bulbs in the snowflake decorations. Approx. cost to be over $2,000.00

That would mean that they spent over $2,000 for bulbs and did not shop locally. Even the city doesn't support local business.

Has anyone ever figured the cost of electricity for running those snowflakes? It seems to me that with the budget crunch the way it is someone would figure the cost to determine if it can be maintained. All this wailing about having to cut the police department because they don't have the money and then to put up lights that cost more money doesn't make sense to me.

I think the snowflakes look nice too but the question is can Ortonville afford them or are they just another toy that the Mayor and his cronies want?

The mayor has no problem spending money on his toys. See Is the mayor wasting taxpayer money.

Someone needs to ask the question. How much money does it cost to run those snowflake lights?

The City already turns off one light on each pole later in the evening on main street - I'm not sure what time that happens (maybe after 7:00 pm?).

As for turning lights off at other locations in town, some streets only have two street lights the way it is (one on each end of the street). The block I live on used to have four street lights -- one on each end and two in the middle (one on each side of the street). When they re-did our street, we ended up with two street lights -- one on each end of the block. It seems so dark now.

How much could the city really save? Seems they need to figure in the cost of time the Police Department will be investigating break-ins', etc. Leaving lights on seems to discourage such behavior, or at least makes it more visible. (Especially after reading the Ortonville Independent this past week.)


nascargirl