Butler residents have been notably — and not surprisingly — upset to learn the city isn't placing Christmas lights on Main Street's streetlight posts this year due to an ongoing streetlight replacement project.

On the Eagle's Facebook page, the city's announcement left residents exclaiming “bah humbug!”

“It was pretty hard to sit my kids down tonight and tell them Christmas is canceled,” one person wrote. “What's next — no Santa at the mall?” another asked.

“Lame,” “pathetic,” “insane” and “a huge bummer” were other thoughts shared by disappointed Butler denizens.

We agree that it's a shame the lights won't shine on Main Street, while also concurring with another who noted their disappointment on the matter, but added “no panic button necessary.”

Other means of celebrating the holiday spirit downtown — for example, decorating Diamond Park or, as Mayor Ben Smith noted, adding ornaments such as wreaths or ribbons that could be easily put up or taken down from Main Street's streetlights — will likely move forward.

That being said, it was poor planning on the city's part that the streetlight replacement project wasn't finished in time and, as a result, one of the city's major annual holiday activities won't be as festive.

The fact that a replacement for the lights is only being discussed nearly halfway through November is further evidence that the city's planning on the matter leaves much to be desired.

Although some shops along Main Street might add a little extra glow to their storefront windows to compensate for the lack of Christmas lights, the city shouldn't expect store owners and the Downtown Butler Association to have to make up the difference for a lack of adequate preparation.

It's obvious the replacement project is necessary. The city's old streetlights will be replaced with new poles manufactured with brackets that will make future installations of Christmas lights and military tribute banners smoother.

City officials say the old poles are deteriorating, causing them to be unstable safety hazards.

So, while it's not the end of the world that Main Street's light poles won't be adorned with Christmas lights this year — after all, the spirit of the holiday is about much more than decorating traditions — this could all have been avoided with better planning.

We hope the city explores options to make up for the lack of lights on the streetlights. There are surely other structures along Main Street that could be decorated with lights.