CONWAY — With an eye toward reducing energy costs and light pollution, the town is undertaking a streetlight study to take a look at how the community’s lighting can be more efficient.

The Selectboard approved a $9,950 contract with RTE Energy Solutions this week and is awaiting town counsel’s review of the company’s response before moving forward. The funding for the study was previously approved by residents at June’s Annual Town Meeting.

Selectboard Chair Chris Waldo said the study will examine Conway’s 67 streetlights, their energy use and their utility to residents, which he said will eventually result in a plan that will cut down on light pollution and save the community some money.

“We’re piggybacking on the success of Buckland and Shelburne and their study,” Waldo said. “They had already done some great work on their study and we basically used that model for our own.”

Shelburne undertook an extensive streetlight audit process, which eventually led to a $75,000 appropriation at this year’s Town Meeting to purchase the town’s streetlights from Eversource and replace them with low-wattage LED lights. RTE Energy Solutions also conducted Shelburne’s study.

While the study process remains similar, Conway taxpayers will not see an expensive request to purchase streetlights, as Waldo said the town’s focus is on seeing what lights can be removed and which ones can be replaced with LED lights that are more energy-efficient. Most of the streetlights on Route 116, which is owned by the state, will likely remain.

“The whole purpose is to remove the streetlights that aren’t necessary to reduce the amount of money we pay to maintain the lights and to obviously reduce the light pollution,” Waldo said. Alongside LED lights, caps will also be installed on the remaining streetlights to push light downward, rather than out.

Conway has 67 streetlights throughout the rural community. Meanwhile, neighboring Ashfield, which is more comparable in character and size to Conway than Shelburne is, has fewer than 20 lights, according to Waldo.

“That shows we have an abundance of streetlights that really aren’t necessary,” he said.

There is no explicit timeframe laid out in the contract, but Waldo estimates they’ll have results in about three months. When the project is all said and done, he said the town expects a good chunk of savings in both maintenance and energy costs.

“The way we see it, as far as the preliminary study we did — and obviously we’re not professionals — at least 50% of the streetlights can be decommissioned,” Waldo said.

Public comment

In other business conducted Monday, the Selectboard adopted a formal public comment period policy. While public comment has been allowed at previous meetings, the board didn’t have a specific policy on the subject.

“It’s comparable to other policies we’ve seen throughout the state,” said Selectboard member Erica Goleman.

The intention is to allow residents time to bring up “matters of public interest” that are not on the meeting’s agenda, according to the policy, which was read by Waldo.

Under the policy, residents may speak once for up to two minutes for a total of 15 minutes of public comment. The board can vote to extend discussions if its members wish.

Answers and responses to the public’s inquiries will “be provided as soon as possible,” Waldo said.

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