By Dennis Box

The Courier-Herald

Let there be streetlights.

The members of the Bonney Lake Community Development Committee - Council members Jim Rackley, Mark Hamilton and Cheryle Noble - are trying to light up the town.

Rackley has asked that street light ordinance 1096 be placed on Tuesday's Council Meeting agenda, which would add 144 lights around Bonney Lake.

Rackley said the ordinance has been in committee about six months and is now written and ready to go before the council.

The issue of streetlights has come up because of complaints about paying for the fixtures.

Rackley said developers are asked to pay for streetlights, but the city has its own lights that are paid for by property taxes.

"The CDC and council said it was time to bite the bullet and pay for these lights," Rackley said. "There is plenty of money in this year's budget. It's not something that has arisen over night. It's the city's responsibility to provide this service."

Bonney Lake currently pays about $25,000 each year for maintenance of the lights around the city. Another 144 lights would increase the cost by $18,000 per year, according to Rackley.

"We plan on an additional 50 lights," Rackley said. "We want lights all over town."

At the July 21 council workshop Rackley said the ordinance was delayed by Mayor Bob Young's objection.

"I think it's because of the money," Rackley said. "The ordinance will come to council with my name on it."

Young, who was on vacation and did not attend the meeting, said later he did not oppose the street light ordinance.

"I just wanted a full hearing before the council on this issue," Young said. "The problem with a street light ordinance, once it's in the budget, it's there forever and ever. I wanted them to come at this with their eyes open. Down the road we can't take this out."

Public Works Director Dan Grigsby said the staff was trying to go through a process with the ordinance.

"We were discussing the pros and cons of the project," Grigsby said. "The affect on the budget. The mayor felt before moving forward with the ordinance we should know the impact on the budget."

At the workshop Hamilton said there was a consensus on the CDC committee that the city needed to pick up the bill for streetlights.

The ordinance calls for new streetlights on public streets to be owned and maintained by the city, for power lines to be installed underground and for a the city to begin installing street lights on all intersections, dead-end streets and cul-de-sacs not within new developments.

Dennis Box can be reached at dbox@courierherald.com.