Miller Cove residents want street light

Miller Cove residents want street light

Neighborhood presents Marion Council with safety concerns

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A resident on Miller Cove is asking Marion to consider putting up a street light in their neighborhood. Doris Jacobs, who has lived at 129 Miller Cove for the past five years, told the city council that it is hard to see where you are going on their street because it is so dark.

“We’re concerned about the lighting out there,” Jacobs said. “You drive through there at night and it is very dark. You have to watch where you turn. We really would like to have more lights out there.”

Jacobs said while there are several street lights on Miller Drive, there is no street light at the end of their cove.

Neighbors have had to put their own lights up in their yards to better illuminate the street.

“At our house we have a light on in the yard,” Jacobs said. “But when you come around that curve in that cove, there is just no light there. You just come on down in the dark and hopefully you know where you are going. I’ve had people visit us and tell us ‘oh, it’s really dark out there.’” Another resident who lives at 106 Miller Cove agreed and told the city council that visitors to her home have almost ended up in the ditch because there are no lights.

“We’ve been there ten years and there have never been street lights except on the north end,” she said.

“At the end of the cove as the lady referred, it is pitch dark. I don’t know how many times we’ve had guests who have almost ended up in the ditch line because there are no lights out there. There is nothing at intersections, nothing at the end of the cove.”

Mayor Frank Fogleman said street lights are usually installed in areas to help with traffic management, but not for security.

“Typically street lights are to see yield signs, stop signs, street identification — things of that nature,” Fogleman said. “We do put them in curves — that type of things. If your concerns are about security, we don’t do security lights along the streets. That is going to fall more to your neighbors.

That’s been our position for a long time. That’s up to the property owners.”

Fogleman said he isn’t familiar with Miller Cover, but added that the city does put up lights at the end of coves to alert drivers that the road is ending.

Councilman Bryan Jackson said the city may have forgotten to put one there.

“It sounds like they missed one,” Jackson said.

Fogleman said he would look at the intersection.

“If we missed an intersection of a cove, I would be happy to arrange to get you a street light,” Fogleman said. “If there are already street lights there and your concern is security, that’s not something we can do.

But I would be happy to take a look at the whole subdivision from Miller Cove and north. If there are street lights that can help with traffic management, I’d be happy to arrange it.”

By Mark Randall