BETHEL — The Board of Selectmen voted Monday to postpone discussion on whether to consider installing more streetlights in the village.

Town Manager Jim Doar said he and Robin Zinchuk, executive director of the Bethel Area Chamber of Commerce, recently drove around town to gauge the best way to illuminate the village.

“This is in response to a request we had previously to light up the intersection at the Parkway, which has streetlights already,” Doar said. “The idea is to let people coming up Route 26 at night know that the village exists, and that there’s something beyond taking that right on the Parkway.”

Doar said he and Zinchuk identified “two, potentially three” areas where streetlights could be placed.

“One is outside the ambulance barn,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s possible to put a pole there, but it would angle toward Railroad Street. Also, we thought a pole could go across from the substation by the wastewater treatment plant.”

Selectman Don Bennett said he would drive around the village to look at the lighting, but added, “I don’t see any great improvement happening there with more lights.”

In other business, selectmen unanimously voted to postpone discussions on whether to appoint Scott Fraser to the Water District Board of Trustees.

“I think before we make an appointment to the board, we should decide what the agenda is for that department and then appoint someone to the board who we think will further that agenda,” Selectman Peter Southam said.

“If we decide that the agenda is to combine the water and sewer departments, we need to decide if that’s what we definitely want our agenda to be,” he said.

Doar suggested that selectmen not appoint anyone to the Water District until the March selectmen meeting, and continue discussion on whether or not to merge the water and sewer departments at their February meeting.

“We’ve nibbled around the idea in the past, and we need something to get us over this,” Doar said.

Chairman Stan Howe said the Water District appointment would likely be “the most important appointment we’ll be making this year.”

Selectmen also appointed Frances Head to the Budget Committee.

mdaigle@sunjournal.com