WINDHAM – Dozens of streetlights that fail to meet the criteria of a new policy adopted by the Windham Town Council this summer have been marked with a bright green notice indicating that they could be removed on Nov. 18, according to assistant planner Ben Smith.

Windham’s Energy Advisory Committee, which drafted the streetlight policy last May, is holding an informational meeting on Monday, Nov. 4, at 6:30 p.m. at town hall to give individuals and businesses a chance to appeal the town’s decision to remove the streetlights and to get information on how to request that lights remain on town accounts or to have them transferred to private accounts.

The council adopted the streetlight policy on June 25. The purpose of the policy is to balance public safety with ongoing costs and energy use, Smith said. It also guides the placement of future public streetlights and the removal of existing streetlights from the town’s account with Central Maine Power Co. that do not meet location criteria specified in the policy, he said.

“It goes back to the town’s energy plan,” Smith said of the council’s decision to adopt the policy.

“When the council adopted the energy plan, one of the goals was to look at and [remove] streetlights that don’t have a public-safety component. The Town Council is looking at it both as a way to reduce costs as well as a way to reduce energy use,” said Smith.

According to Smith, out of the town’s existing 335 streetlights, 107 of them have been flagged for possible removal to meet the town’s new standards. Based on the policy, eight new streetlights should be installed in other locations in town.

The average cost for each streetlight in town is $10.63 per month, Smith said. A net reduction of 99 streetlights would result in a savings of around $11,880 annually, he said.

Smith said the town rents the lights, brackets and other hardware from CMP on a monthly basis, including the cost of electricity. In addition to cost savings, Smith said he did not know how much energy would be saved if it removes all 99 lights. Each streetlight would need to be hooked up to an energy meter in order to determine the amount of energy in kilowatt-hours each light uses, he said.

CMP spokeswoman Gail Rice said the amount of energy saved per fixture would also depend on the light fixture that is being used and hours of operation. On Wednesday, she said transmission and distribution utilities like CMP are prohibited by state statute and Maine Public Utilities Commission administrative rules from sharing customer-specific information including contract terms and energy use with third parties.

According to Town Manager Tony Plante, this is the first time in about 20 years the town has systematically looked at its streetlight policy and discussed where lights are needed.

Plante said the town should not be responsible for financing lights that serve a single property owner or small group of property owners. The council does recognize, however, that streetlights are an important aspect of public safety as they provide for increased safety at night for both drivers and pedestrians, he said.

As defined in the policy, streetlights must be placed at intersections as well as commercial and mixed-use areas and areas of the roadways that have dangerous curves, steep grades or other physical hazards.

“The recommendations from the energy advisory committee are one part of an overall look at what the town is doing with respect to energy-efficiency and conservation,” Plante said.

According to Plante, the energy committee was created under a grant from Efficiency Maine and later formalized by the council. The recommendations made by the committee, based on an inventory of the streetlights, have been included in the town’s fiscal 2014 budget, which still needs council approval.

CMP will not charge for the removal of streetlights that are more than 15 years old, Smith said. For lights installed less than 15 years ago, the power company will calculate removal charges on a per-light basis, he said.

Energy audits have been completed for Windham’s municipal buildings, and the town has made energy-efficient improvements to lighting fixtures as ways to save money and energy, said Plante. The town is also thinking about saving energy by installing motion sensors in public spaces to ensure the lights go out when they are not being used, he said.

For more information about the streetlight policy, contact Smith in the planning department at 894-5900, ext. 6123, or visit the town’s website at www.windhamweb.com.

Notices have been posted on 99 streetlights throughout Windham that do not meet the criteria in the town’s streetlight policy. The notice indicates that the tagged streetlights are scheduled for removal on Nov. 18.