Will some streetlights be going back up in the city of McMinnville? Officials will be discussing the possibility Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.
Alderman Jimmy Bonner says it’s time to consider those campaign promises.
“People asked us about streetlights when we were campaigning,” Bonner said. “I remember a lot of them said we would give the lights back. People are now asking why we aren’t putting them back up. I think we should take a look at the policy.”
He adds, “We weren’t on the board at the time the decision was made to remove the streetlights. I think the least we can do is look into it. We may see it differently than they did.”
Officials began considering the removal of some street lights in July 2008. The measure was presented to them by McMinnville Public Works director Bill Brock as an attempt to tweak the city’s Street Aid budget by reducing street lights and increasing money for street paving.
Street Aid is an enterprise system. Funds in the budget are provided by the state and can only be used on items considered street-related, such as lights, paving, signs, etc.  
The city’s street budget was $412,818 for fiscal year 2008-09. Of that budget, $290,000 went to pay for street lighting and $10,000 went to street maintenance and repairs, while the remainder went to street signs, employee wages, insurance, retirement, etc.
A new policy that paved the way to remove several hundred streetlights was passed almost two years later in March 2010 by Norman Rone (former mayor), Everett Brock and Bobby Kirby (former aldermen), and current board members Mayor Jimmy Haley (formerly an aldermen) and Aldermen Billy Wood and Rick Barnes.
In 2012, officials borrowed $2 million and began paving streets. The annual debt service on the $2 million is to be paid from the Street Aid budget. Wood stands behind the decision to focus on paving.
“The Street Aid budget is an enterprise fund,” said Wood. “We had a decision to make. We could pay for streetlights or we could pay for paving. We couldn’t do both.”
He adds, “If we put the streetlights back up, how are we going to fund street paving? Debt service on the $2 million we borrowed and any future paving will be placed on the backs of taxpayers. We don’t need to do that. That’s what the Street Aid budget is for.”
Meeting jointly to review the city’s streetlights will be Safety Committee and Streets and Sanitation Committee members. On the two committees are Bonner and Aldermen Mike Neal, Rick Barnes and Billy Wood.
Speculation is the Safety Committee is involved in the discussion due to a request from an elderly resident who wants the streetlight in front of her house returned to alleviate concerns she has about safety.
“I did receive a request from a 93-year-old woman on Towles Avenue who wants her streetlight back for safety reasons, but this started with campaign promises,” said Bonner, the chairman of the Safety Committee. “We aren’t doing this as a favor to one resident. This is about doing the right thing for all our residents and upholding campaign promises.”
Committee meetings are held on the third floor of City Hall.