DUMMERSTON — The town is now armed with a lighting proposal to increase visibility and safety for workers, residents, and other visitors to the Town Office, the voting facility, and the historical society.
Energy Committee member Stan “Smokey” Howe presented the Selectboard on Dec. 11 with a range of options that would, if approved as presented, replace eight existing exterior light fixtures burning 1,080 watts with 17 energy-efficient models in a new layout that would tap only 632 watts.
“Before and after” computer simulations Howe presented showed bird's-eye views and virtual walkthroughs of the parking lot and pathways leading to and from areas now often dimly lit - or not lit at all - when residents are driving, walking, and trying to conduct business here.
The upgrade was presented in six zones, and selectmen have the option of phasing in the upgrades over years as funding allows. Howe's initial projection for the total work - materials, labor, and energy efficiency rebates included - came in at $31,151.69 to $31,654.19, depending on whether the town crew excavates.
The costliest element of the project is an estimated $10,600 to illuminate the parking lot, Howe said.
He added he considered hardware that would garner “the greatest rebate from Efficiency Vermont and what's going to light the area properly.”
“A benefit of LED is it puts the light where you need it and it doesn't just cast light everywhere, like in your neighbor's window. … It does a really nice job,” he said.
The next steps, Howe proposed, include the Selectboard poring through the drawings, figures, and animations on compact discs, sending the project out to bid, and pursuing funding.
He said that because the town's emergency management center would benefit, emergency management support funds might be sought. As well, there is interest in cost sharing and project design from the Dummerston Congregational Church, which stands to benefit from improved path lighting.
In planning for the Dec. 11 proposal, Howe said he realized four electrical conduit runs would require two town office driveway crossings, “which was initially a concern of mine - how do I get around cutting up that brand-new pavement out there? - and really there's no getting around the fact you have to go underneath the driveway.”
Howe said he has contacted a West Dummerston resident who specializes in techniques that could run the conduits well beneath the driveway without tearing it up.
Tapping an energy-efficiency incentive
Earlier this year, Selectmen signed an incentive agreement with Efficiency Vermont, the Burlington-based nonprofit energy rating organization for the state, to upgrade the town's remaining mercury-vapor streetlights to energy-efficient LED lamps.
Under the agreement, Efficiency Vermont will pay Green Mountain Power outstanding depreciation left on outdated fixtures here, up to $100 per fixture on average, helping defray the cost of upgrading to the next-generation lamp bulbs.
According to Howe, presenting the incentive plan at the Selectboard's Oct. 30 meeting, the program spares the town from having to continue paying a monthly tariff on outdated, inefficient equipment and furthers the aims of the state in widespread LED adoption.
“Most of our fixtures in town are so old there's no depreciation left on them. A few in town are newer fixtures that've been replaced in the past 5-10 years or whatever,” Howe said at the time.
“Efficiency Vermont is pushing to finalize this so that they can finalize their budgets. It's kind of like we get on board with this now or we lose the opportunity,” he added.
By 2014, more than two-thirds of Vermont's municipal street lights will be upgraded to LED technology, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy noted in a related 2012 study.
At Howe's Oct. 30 proposal, the Selectboard also took up installing a building-mounted fixture on the firehouse, replacing the pole-mounted fixture Green Mountain Power installed.
Talks on solar services underway
Pamela McFadden, Dummerston's town clerk, asked on behalf of another in the community whether Howe had considered solar-powered lamps. Howe said he had looked into solar poles, but that their cost and maintenance struck him as prohibitive.
Jerelyn Wilson, chair of the Energy Committee, put in that Dummerston was studying as a separate project a solar services agreement with Green Lantern Capital, which had the potential of providing power to the town at an attractive rate.
“If we went ahead with that, the power that serves those lights would be solar, but you wouldn't have the solar at the site that's powering the lights with the solar equipment right there,” she said.
In other action at the Selectboard meeting, members approved payment of $150 for the Energy Committee to hire two students for data entry.
The Dummerston Energy Committee, which was formed in 2007, consists of members appointed by the Selectboard. The committee supports the town in monitoring locally important energy issues and developments and promoting energy conservation, efficiency, and increased use of renewable resources.
Other members of the Energy Committee are listed as Bill Conley, Chris Derby, Sam Farwell, Diana Lischer-Goodband, and Alex Wilson. Meetings typically are held on the first Monday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Dummerston town offices.