Possible Safety Cuts in Yakima

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Story Published: Nov 26, 2009 at 1:30 PM PDT

By Stacy Lilienthal

YAKIMA --- Street lights and management in an emergency. These are two more safety items the Yakima City Council may change to save money.

Emergency Management coordinates drills. The department also standardizes plans for 14 cities and the county and applies for grants. "What we're telling them is that would damage or significantly impact the ability of the community and the entire valley to respond to a major emergency or disaster. We're now coordinated, we're working on the same plan, we're all in the same boat if you will," director of Emergency Management, Jim Hall told Action News. But emergency management membership costs the city about 62 thousand dollars a year, so the city is considering shifting those responsibilities to the fire department.

Streets lights may be cut too. The Streets and Traffic Department is trying to save money by switching to LED lights and applying for grants, but that may not be enough. The department is saying it's budget is cut so thin, if it gets any less money from the city, it recommended cutting 500 of them before anything else. Street lights that may be turned off won't be at intersections, but rather street lights in the center of a block where darkness won't cause a problem for drivers but may for walkers. That's why the department doesn't plan to turn any off on any major roads or in residential areas. "There's very few mid-lights within the neighborhoods, and also that becomes an even greater security issue for safety," Streets and Traffic Operations director, Joe Rosenlund explained.

Those ideas include emergency management and street lights. Council members are giving the impression they're not a fan of reducing street lights, or removing the city from the Emergency Management department. But they will decide on both when they decide the budget in their December meeting.

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