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Village to upgrade street lights

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The village board approved eight new light fixtures in downtown Hortonville to improve night time safety at crosswalks. John Faucher Photo

Hortonville projects savings of $182,000

By John Faucher


The Hortonville Village Board unanimously approved upgrading 153 metal halide street light fixtures to LED this year.

Hortonville Public Works Director Carl McCrary said the upfront charge of $22,300 for the project would result in an energy savings of $182,838 over a 20-year period.

The board approved the work request with We Energies in early January.

McCrary said the lighting conversion involves fixtures attached to We Energies wooden utility poles located throughout the village.

Board Trustee Julie Arendt Vanden Heuvel asked if some of the fixtures had already been updated.

McCrary reported there’s been some work completed but, mainly on poles relocated for the bypass or other reasons.

“This will finish up the rest,” said McCrary.

“These are existing lights on side streets and various older neighborhoods,” McCrary said.

Currently the village spends approximately $42,000 annually on electricity.

“The savings for the ‘wooden pole’ conversion is too great to pass up,” he added.

At current rates, without a conversion the projected 20-year electric bill was $544,000 versus $361,000 with the conversion.

“We’re paying a little bit of money up front but it’s going to pay big dividends in the long run,” McCrary said.

On Tuesday, Feb. 9, McCrary reported that We Energies ordered the materials needed for the project and would begin the installation once they arrived.

It could take 12-15 weeks he said, due to COVID-19 lengthening the amount of lead time for getting the materials.

McCrary did not recommend a phase two conversion of the village’s ornamental lighting at this time because there was no financial return.

Brighter crosswalks

The board also approved purchasing four additional light fixtures for the downtown in an effort to brighten up several poorly lit crosswalks.

The board had previously approved four fixtures for the south side crosswalks near the intersection of Nash and Main Streets.

McCrary reported that the new fixtures greatly improved safety and worked so well that he requested four more for crosswalks on the north end of the downtown.

He said the plan is to reuse the fixtures and poles in the village’s parks, post bypass.

The board approved paying the cost of $5,436 for all eight of the fixtures.

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