By Joe BarkerMissourian Staff WriterMarthasville will get new streetlighting, but not as much as proposed during the Sept. 16 meeting.The board of aldermen opted to go forward with only one of the two proposals to increase the lighting around town. The other proposal was tabled and will be voted on next month.The issue stems from the city being serviced by two power companies — Ameren and Cuivre River Electric. The two companies provided plans for additional lighting throughout the city, but Alderman Pam Jensen had an issue accessing the Cuivre River proposal.Jensen requested a delay in the voting to allow her more time to review the locations and cost of the project. After a lengthy discussion, other board members agreed to move forward with just the Ameren portion of the project.ProposalMayor David Lange said he’s been in talks with Ameren and Cuivre River in recent months about increasing lighting around town. The two companies submitted proposals for spots that could house additional lights.Lange said for power poles with transformers or service wire, Ameren will do the installation free of charge. The only cost to the city is the monthly fee of having the lights.According to Ameren, the only cost to the city would be $10.43, plus tax, per month, for lights on wood poles. Fiberglass poles would cost $21.85 per month, plus tax, monthly as well.Other lights would require more work and Lange suggested bypassing those. He proposed keeping it simple and just going with the “free” lights and a select few others that don’t require major work.Under the Ameren plan, Lange said the city could add 17 additional lights for around $1,920.With Cuivre River, Lange said for six additional lights it would cost $2,126.Lange said the city’s street light budget is in good shape and, because the city underestimates how much revenue it will bring in, is currently making $2,500 annually. He said the new lights would easily fit into the budget and provide better safety for residents.Questions About PlanAlderman Mike Kloeppel said he was unsure if he could make a decision at the meeting. He said it was a lot of information and he wanted to see more finalized notes on costs.Kloeppel requested a special workshop to review all the details of both plans.Alderman Nick Lange, referencing an Aug. 28 special meeting that was canceled, said it’s a challenge to get all the aldermen together in a room at the time.“It’s hard to accommodate special workshops outside of the regular board meetings,” he said. “This information has been presented for several months now.”Kloeppel said the citizens haven’t had a chance to look at the project. It’s been known to aldermen, but not the public.Nick Lange said he’s had time to review the project and he thinks the additional lighting is good for the community. He said the board should go forward with the selected lights.Jensen said she was in favor of a workshop. She said the board would work better as a unit if it spent more time hashing out things in workshops.“I think the city is suffering because we’re not able to get together and talk about these things,” Jensen said.Nick Lange said that’s the point of the meetings. He said any item that isn’t being discussed should be placed on the agenda.“Streetlights have been on the agenda several times now,” he said. “This is when we discuss it.”Jensen said she didn’t feel comfortable voting because she didn’t have all the details. She said the Cuivre River proposal didn’t open on her computer so the first time she saw it was at Wednesday’s meeting.Jensen said she wanted time to look at all the proposed locations to decide if a light is really needed. Once again she requested a workshop to go over the plans in more detail.DecisionImmediately following Jensen’s request for a workshop, Nick Lange made a motion to do both the Ameren and Cuivre proposals with the selected number of lights. His motion didn’t get a second and died.Alderman Dan Grafrath then made a motion to only do the Ameren portion of the project because all board members had a chance to review that material before the meeting. He said the Cuivre River project could be voted on in October.The rest of the board agreed and unanimously approved the Ameren package.Marthasville