This week the BID tabled a decision regarding what to do with the lights that border the buildings in downtown West Bend.
An update was given regarding the cost to replace individual bulbs and whether LED bulbs can be put into the existing lighting strips.
In mid-December, Washington County Insider was first to bring you the results of a survey conducted after the BID turned off the lights bordering the buildings downtown. It wanted to gauge community reaction to determine the significance of the lights to the downtown, future funding and whether more cost-effective LED lights should be considered.
Early estimates put the cost of investigating the electric conduit and lights is up to $15,000. Replacement of the lights could cost more than the original installation, which was about $100,000.
BID president Mike Husar suggested the issue of fixing the lights be tabled until February’s meeting as he “heard rumblings on the street” that an organization may step forward and help pay to repair the lights. Board members agreed, at this point in time there was no urgency to make a decision on the item and action was tabled until next month.
A complete look at survey results are posted below.
There were 187 people that took the survey. Of those 167 lived in West Bend, 16 owned property downtown and 33 owned a business in downtown West Bend:
-154 visited the downtown while the lights were off.
-143 said they noticed a difference with the building lights turned off.
-156 said they would recommend spending up to $100,000 to keep the lights on.
The lights have been in place since 2003. The survey results strongly favor fixing the lights.