OTTUMWA — “Reach out in the darkness and you may find a friend,” according to the lyrics of an old song.

For Ottumwan Dave Cecil, the darkness hides prowlers and thieves and he’s been a one-man campaign trying to to get the city to light the alley in the area of Fourth and Hackberry streets.

Cecil’s home is about 500 feet from Ottumwa High School, and he had submitted a request for alley lighting to the Ottumwa Public Safety Advisory Board.

The board denied the request and passed their assessment to the Ottumwa City Council, which discussed the matter earlier this week.

“I own property in that area, which is 500 to 1,000 feet from Ottumwa High School,” he said. “It’s dark there. About one and a half blocks are all dark.”

Cecil said he would like to see a street light there. He said two lights would be good but “one is fine.”

During the past 10 years, the neighborhood has been changing and “the cops go to” the area where he lives “more and more,” Cecil said.

“I have talked to [Ottumwa Police] Chief Jim Clark and he said a light would help his officers,” he said.

Cecil also told the council he had talked to Public Works Director Larry Seals, who said the city has a policy about keeping budget expenditures low.

“I hope [the council] will consider this a safety need, not a budget [concern],” he added.

Councilman Bob Meyers said he appreciated Seals’ rationale due to budget concerns and agreed that the city “by policy” doesn’t light alleys.

Seals said the city has reduced lights in alleyways but does light intersections. During the last Alliant Energy assessment, the city’s bill had increased $70,000.

Cecil said his point was “this zone is dark.

“I’ve been speaking with neighbors and they agree there is high traffic,” he said. “We see more and more people with flashlights prowling around our yards, driveways and the alley. They cut through our yards, taking time to look in our cars.”

Councilman Keith Caviness said he recently drover through Cecil’s neighborhood.