When city workers began replacing Castlegar’s street lights with power-saving lights in December, they ran into a few problems.
A number of existing heads on the streetlights made dimming impossible and the age of the existing lights was much greater than anticipated, Chris Barlow, director of transportation and civic works wrote in a recent report to city council.
The lights that were being installed have a dimming feature that allows the lights to work at a lower capacity during certain times of the night in order to save power.
In order to continue installation, the most financially responsible solution would be to purchase new heads and lamps for the 812 streetlights, Barlow advised.
Without financial help, the cost would have been quoted at $215,000. However, with assistance from STI (the company that sells the streetlights), Fortis and Martech, the cost was brought down to $51,913. Prior to Monday’s city council meeting, Fortis kicked in another $12,000 to bring the cost down even more.
“We’re looking at a payback of probably two and a half years,” Barlow said.
Council approved the purchase unanimously and the estimated delivery of the new heads and lamps is six to eight weeks.
Installation is set to recommence in March.