Ancram Town Board approves LED streetlight conversion project

ANCRAM — After holding the mandated public hearing to solicit community feedback, the Ancram Town Board unanimously approved Central Hudson’s proposal to convert all 31 town streetlights to light emitting diodes (LEDs), on Thursday, March 19; a limited number of people were present.

Included in its proposal for the conversion, Central Hudson cited that the town of Ancram would save 16,000 kilowatt hours each year, and the town and its Lighting District would save around $2,200 each year in a combination of reduced energy costs and lower maintenance fees. In a statement issued in February, Ancram town Supervisor Art Bassin reported that the town and Lighting District currently pay around $7,000 per year to Central Hudson for the streetlights, and that Central Hudson would charge the town around $3,800 for the conversion.

In addition to having an estimated life expectancy of more than 20 years, these LED light fixtures are Dark Sky Compliant, which means they would eliminate upward light emission toward the sky, reduce light trespass to neighboring properties and provide input into the lumen (or measure of brightness) output of each streetlight that hasn’t already been converted to LED.

Despite the coronavirus pandemic changing public gathering regulations, the Ancram Town Board held the public hearing on Saturday, March 14. However, the board limited public access to no more than three people. The majority of the board was in attendance along with those three members of the public.

Once the public hearing opened, the board reviewed one comment from a resident who was interested in having fewer streetlights in town. Though the person didn’t object to the LED proposal, Bassin said the person thought the town could use fewer lights.

In response, the board pointed out that having less lights poses a safety issue. The Ancram Climate Smart Community Task Force asked to review the number of streetlights in town to determine if there are too many or too few before moving forward with the conversion.

No other issues were raised during the remainder of the public hearing.

At its meeting on the 19th, the board unanimously approved the conversion to LED streetlights, which is subject to review by the Climate Smart Community Task Force and with continued discussion between the board and Central Hudson.

“It makes sense economically and environmentally,” Bassin said, “and our Climate Smart Community Task Force has done an excellent job getting this project organized and the Town Board is fully supportive of getting it implemented.”

The next regular Ancram Town Board meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 16, at 7 p.m. Public access will be limited to no more than three people.