NILES — Niles’ downtown district will be swathed in more lights and décor than in past years this holiday season, but Chapin Mansion’s light show has dimmed out.

During a Monday Niles City Council meeting at the fire department complex, 1345 E. Main St., the council unanimously voted to purchase up to $3,500 of Christmas lighting for downtown trees. The vote effectively ended the mansion’s lighting, which would sync up with Christmas music during showings.

Niles Main Street also purchased decorations for downtown light poles and to complement the new lighting.

The lighting purchases will come out of the utilities department electric division’s Christmas Decoration Expense budget of $5,000.

Three other utilities department budget expenses were also approved unanimously Monday by the council, including $5,026 to purchase surveillance equipment to monitor the city’s public water supply and $9,863 in expanded Wi-Fi coverage for the utility’s service center.

As in past years, an agreement with Utility Financial Solutions, of Leland, Michigan, was also approved. For $17,500, the group will perform financial projects, rate methodology and rate design studies for the utilities department.

The agreement is meant to help the department understand its real-time operating expenses, real-time income and long-term costs of maintaining city infrastructure.

Councilmember Daniel VandenHeede said he understood that Utility Financial Solutions’ work looked at issues from a cost perspective to the city, but he said he hoped the department would take on the consumers’ perspective after. He thought the city’s fixed rate for utilities harms some consumers.

“We want to incentivize conservation,” he said. “When so much of the charge is built into that fixed meter that we can’t do anything about, there’s not much people can do, especially if they’re on a fixed income or something.”

Also Monday, several audience members stepped in front of the council:

• Jacob Hollister asked the council to consider adding more handicap parking in downtown Niles.

He said that he heard handicap parking was not expanded because there was not enough room on city streets to bring a motorized wheelchair down a ramp into the street safely.

Hollister said most people needing mobility aids do not used motorized equipment.

“The biggest obstacle for many people with disabilities is just proximity,” he said. “If we can just get close to where we’re going, we don’t need a whole wheelchair ramp to get there.”

• Michelle Rose asked city council to consider making Cherry Street have one-way parking. She said parking on both sides of the residential street made it difficult for school buses, fire trucks and ambulances to get through.

• Justin Flagel, Niles Main Street board member, informed council members of the organization’s Small Business Saturday events happening downtown Nov. 30.