Town heard NYPA presentation on converting
The Town Board heard two presentations at its meeting on April 8. While no decisions on either topic were made — the board went into the evening knowing the presentations were informational only — the speakers did give board members “plenty of food for thought”, Supervisor Bob Livsey said.
The first topic was LED street lights, and the presenter was Jeff Laino from the New York Power Authority.
He’d met Councilman Richard Sullivan at the annual Association of Towns meeting recently, and came to speak to the board about NYPA programs for towns to convert traditional street lights — which use more energy than LED lights — to the newer technology lights.
“It’s really catching on across the state,” Laino said, “and communities are recognizing great savings in both electricity and maintenance costs.” He explained that often the lights are more aesthetically pleasing too, “mimicking moonlight as opposed to the more yellow lights you have now”.
Fort Montgomery has 167 lights and would be considered a “small project” for NYPA he said as he explained through their ‘Smart Street Lighting NY’ program the town could finance the purchase and installation of new lights, at about a 2.5 percent interest rate. He said he estimated the cost would be about $164,000, which would include the $58,000 it would cost to purchase the current lights from O&R. He also estimated that with potential savings in electric costs, the town could pay back that loan in about seven years.
He answered many questions about how wattage on LED lights could be different in residential neighborhoods versus business areas (“yes”); the life expectancy of LED fixtures (15-25 years); and if grants to help pay for new lights (typically only available for light packages that include “bells and whistles” like cameras, traffic controllers, etc., “Laino said).
Currently, Sullivan said, the town spends about $45,000 on street lighting.
From the audience, Laino was asked why the lights in Highland Falls weren’t included in the presentation — while that is due to the fact that the town and village pay for their street lights separately, Laino said he’d be happy to talk with village officials.
NYPA’s goal, he said, is to convert 500,000 street lights to LED by the year 2025.
Former Town Councilman Bill Edsall lent his support to the project, saying that the research he did showed the town would get “a good return on its investment”. He added “the cost of electric keeps rising”.
The second topic was cell towers, by James O’Gorman of Communications Engineering.
