CONWAY — As the town’s streetlight study continues, residents and officials gathered at Town Hall this week to shed some light on the topic.

Conway is exploring the usefulness and energy demand of its 67 streetlights in an effort to cut down on light pollution and save the town money. To do so, it is looking to see which light poles could be decommissioned and which ones could be purchased from Eversource, so the town could outfit them with low-wattage LED bulbs and add lighting shields.

The town, following a similar process to neighboring Shelburne, has partnered with consulting firm RTE Energy Solutions, and will submit a list of lights it wants to keep and lights it wants to eliminate.

“Our committee’s recommendation is to purchase light fixtures and lower the wattage,” Sustainability Committee Co-Chair Beth Girshman said, adding that the goal is to “purchase all those things ourselves, maintain them locally, and save both energy and money” because the town pays an annual energy fee, as well as a monthly rental fee, to Eversource each year. In 2024, Girshman reported the fees totaled around $9,000.

Selectboard Chair Chris Waldo, presenting a map identifying all the streetlights in town, said any light near a crosswalk or a sidewalk close to a business or major intersection will not be under consideration to decommission, which eliminates a good chunk of the lights downtown. He added that Ashfield, a similarly sized town with more businesses, has just 17 lights.

“The vast majority of lights that do meet the criteria are along [Route] 116 and Whately Road,” Waldo said. “The lights that do not are all over the place. … Those are the ones we will be looking at further to see if there’s potential for decommissioning.”

Girshman said the Sustainability Committee is looking at several methods to improve the streetlights in town: shielding, the color temperature, intensity and timing. While there are many ideas floating around, she emphasized the town has “not selected anything yet.”

While supportive of trimming the number of lights in town, some residents did express safety concerns about removing lights on certain streets where a lot of folks walk or bike.

Mark Silverman, an Elm Street resident who serves on the Zoning Board of Appeals, said the town should expand its criteria slightly more, as roads like his are heavily used by townspeople.

“Elm Street is a street that is constantly having people walking, walking their kids, bike riding and that doesn’t have any sidewalks. It’s not on an intersection except at the end of it,” Silverman said. “We have trouble with people using it as a shortcut, bypassing much of [Shelburne Falls Road]. In fact, GPS now recommends to people, guides them, to use it as a shortcut.”

“This whole downtown is a fabulous place to take walks. … The lights really make it so when it’s starting to get dark earlier, we can continue to do that,” added resident Kate French. “This is a walk-a-holic place and the lights really help us keep it going. Just consider it.”

Sue McFarland, an Academy Hill Road resident, asked if repositioning lights would be an option, as there might be some areas where there are two lights, but one could get the job done. Waldo said he isn’t sure that is an option at this point and there’s only a handful of places where that might be effective.

McFarland also added she’d like to make a pitch for “keeping some of the lights on Academy Hill Road.”

“I think of it as sanctuary; if I see a car coming, I try to get underneath that streetlight so I’m visible,” she said. “If I’m walking home from the library or something, or kids are riding their bikes back from the field or whatever, I would hope we could keep some lights.”

Conway will continue accepting feedback from residents through the end of February.

Girshman said town officials will be submitting a list of lights they want to eliminate and which ones they want to keep by the end of the first week of March. From there, RTE Energy Solutions will submit design concepts and recommendations for light fixtures, bulbs and wattage options. Conway will then pursue a Green Communities grant to help fund the purchase of the streetlights from Eversource.

Residents who wish to share feedback on streetlights in the community are encouraged to email Town Administrator Veronique Blanchard at townadmin@conwayma.gov. More information, including a map of the streetlights, can be found on the Sustainability Committee’s webpage at conwayma.gov/g/71/Sustainability.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.