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Commissioners debate restoring End/Break Lucas Road street‑lighting request; Sankey offers to fund short term
Summary
Commissioners debated whether to restore a request to add street lights on End/Break Lucas Road after Commissioner Sankey said she would use leftover designated funds to cover a multi‑year contract. The chair raised cost and precedent concerns and agreed to return the item to the formal agenda for a vote.
Commissioner Sankey pressed the Montgomery County Commission to restore a previously moved lighting project for End/Break Lucas Road to the formal agenda, saying she would cover the shortfall from her remaining designated funds.
"There's no reason why we shouldn't vote on it," Commissioner Sankey said, urging the commission to take the item up immediately. She told colleagues she had "about 25,000 left over" and proposed using the funds to cover a three‑year contract so the neighborhood would get lights now.
Chair (speaking from the bench) resisted a broader policy change, noting the county maintains 527 miles of roads and historically has not installed street lights in unincorporated areas. "We just never have before," the chair said, raising long‑term cost implications if the county accepted similar requests across many districts.
Commissioners questioned who would pay ongoing power costs after any short‑term subsidy ended. The chair said installing lights widely could raise the county's power bill "$2,200,000 a year," a figure commissioners used to highlight fiscal risk of expanding street lighting countywide. Commissioner Moore Ziegler and other commissioners said they have fielded resident requests in the past but emphasized the need for consistent policy rather than ad hoc approvals.
Sankey said the request was prompted by public‑safety concerns along the road and that residents had expressed willingness to help pay maintenance. She also urged the commission not to remove items from the formal agenda without commissioners' input.
The chair agreed to place End/Break Lucas Road back on the formal agenda so commissioners can vote with full information, and said he also plans to prepare a list of previously approved lighting projects to clarify precedent.
Next steps: the commission will reintroduce the lighting item on a formal agenda for a recorded vote and staff will provide cost and policy details for broader consideration.
