Greener lights due for Redmond? Councilors OK next steps toward LED streetlights
(Update: Adding video, comments)
New lights could last up to 30 years
REDMOND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Much of the city of Redmond could soon get a better look at the starry nighttime skies, as city councilors decided Tuesday evening to move forward with an audit to look at the possibility of installing more than 1,000 LED streetlights and a resulting reduction in their night glow.
Back in 2014-15, the city partnered with Ameresco, a renewable energy company, to facilitate citywide energy efficiency projects, with a benefit of less light pollution.
Those projects included comprehensive lighting upgrades, controls upgrades and the installation of two 10-kilowatt solar photovoltaic systems at Roberts Field.
Ameresco has an agreement with Pacific Power as the only qualified energy services company in Oregon to provide LED streetlight conversion services to cities in their service area.
Mayor George Endicott, with the uanimous backing of councilors, recommended moving forward with an audit conducted by Ameresco on the 1,101 non-LED streetlights remaining to look at long-term conversion.
According to Ameresco Account Executive Joe Mankiewicz, the new LED lightss would last for 30 years and have a 15-20 year warranty, depending on which model of light is selected.
"You can see a significant reduction in the night sky glow by the LEDs," Mankiewicz said. "It has a lot to do with the directional nature of LEDs and the way they are installed."
Councilors were also give an update from the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council on the planned regional Emergency Services Training and Coordination Center.
The idea of a centralized hub in Central Oregon that would collaborate and coordinate agencies during a disaster was envisioned back more than a decade ago, but has picked up pace since 2018.
It's proposed for the Deschutes County-owned former Redmond Rod & Gun Club shooting range property near Redmond Airport.
Councilor Krisanna Clark-Endicott praised the planned center.
"So if that tsunami hits the west coast of Oregon, the Valley, people are going to have to have a place to go -- and it's going to be Redmond, because we're the one with the airport," Clark-Endicott said. "I think this is a really important project. I think being aware and being ready for something like this is really tantamount to preservation of life."
Mayor Endicott, with the support of councilors, agreed to move forward with a memorandum of understanding between the city and the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council.
The entire project could cost roughly $100 million, in six phases over several years.
