Ludington Street Lights: Off and On

[XLFD]

As learned at last Monday's Downtown Ludington Board (DDA) meeting, the DDA plans on replacing downtown lights in the 100 blocks of Ludington Avenue and South James Street, three blocks with 24 existing light posts each, at a cost of about $26,000.  Currently, each post sports two lamps, that use higher wattage bulbs than the one's envisioned. 

DPW Chief Stickney was present and assured the assemblage that the new fixtures would pay for themselves in less than five years from the costs of electricity alone.  Via a FOIA request, the Ludington Torch received his Downtown Street Light Replacement.pdf calculations, which seem to be grounded in mathematical accuracy when one looks at the specs of the replacement light being a Lumecon Ring of Fire High Output type 5 model (Lumecon Information.pdf).

It was learned that the city already has three prototypes on display, paired with the current lamps.  You can see these in front of Old Hamlin Restaurant on West Ludington Avenue:

One by the Ludington Hallmark store on East Ludington Avenue:

And one in front of the stately former Ludington State Bank:

Made famous by its appearance in the movie "Thirty Minutes or Less" complete with old-style lamps:

Part of the charm of the new street lights would be less maintenance because of the long lasting LED lights that provide the illumination for 90,000 hours until replacement is needed, and that the light can be better directed downward, which is important if you live downtown but are annoyed at glaring street lights just outside your window. 

I waited downtown last week for the lights to come on at night to check the differences, this picture was taken in the James Street Plaza just before the lights came out:

The Lumecon lights appeared to come on first and be a little bit brighter when viewed from the street.  This is the view in front of the Hallmark Store after both lights turned on:

But the two other light posts under review, had the older fixture inoperative, as seen at the bank:

In fact, in the area where the City's DDA plans to install these new Lumecons, there were a total of seven of the old bulbs burned out among the 21 in total.  As one travels up the length of South James Street, covering the five blocks between Loomis and Dowland where there are three lamp posts on either side, 23 of the 60 street light fixtures are out.  Twenty of those are on the west side of James in a continuous line covering over three block, making it effectively the 'dark side' of James Street.  Note in the following picture the lack of lighting on the left:

Getting new fixtures that use the energy-saving and maintenance-saving technology of LED lights is a sound idea, particularly when the expenditure will be recovered in under five years.  Having fixtures that aim light more towards where its needed, and away from where it's not, is also a capital idea.  The introduction of such lights would also seem to make the Ludington DPW's poor record of keeping the street torches burning downtown minimalized, since they won't have to change the lights but once every 20 years. 

Hopefully, the City leaders will decide to keep the lights up that long if they purchase them, instead of changing them out when they decide they need another change.

[XLFD]

Willy, I had to wait eight posts by other folks in this thread to get the eventual "How many _____s does it take to change a lightbulb?" wisecrack.  Congratulations on being first. 

It seems weird that the LPD would be tracking these lights.  One would half think they might want the lights out on much of James Street so that they can lurk in the darkness and stop people going home from the bars, as they did with Trooper Seymour, and numerous others I've heard tell of. 

[shinblind]

"Just Change the Bulb"

Slogan of a company that makes LED bulbs that will fit existing public lighting fixtures.

http://alterlume.com/LED-TruFit-Product-Selection-Guide

Any side bets that Shay or the intellectually incurious city council  didn't bother to spend 10 minutes on the internet to find out if there are any other less expensive alternatives?   More likely they all jumped on the bandwagon of the first snake oil salesman who blew a little smoke up their collective way.

Oh and how strong is the 10 year warranty from a company that has been in existence less than 7 years? Will they still be in business in 10 years?

One thing that is a sure bet that when it comes to due diligence Shay & Co don't.

[AQUAMAN]

Excellent investigative report shinblind. Seems to me, and anyone else with blinders on, that Shay cozies up to anyone that will give him the time of day when it comes to expending city funds. No sense getting some bids going for $26,000 in spending, even if the "City Charter" ($10,000 or more), demands it too. The city council is just as, or more, lazy to do anything but be led around like sheep when it comes to reading or investigating issues before them. Just follow Shay's advice, so easy, and after all, isn't that what they pay him for? Any one or all of those councilors on the streets and lights committee could just as easily taken 30 minutes out of the last 2 weeks to google some information, but, as we can see, they have other priorities other than that. I wonder what the actual cost per unit is for the $26K they intend to spend on this new folly?

[XLFD]

Good find, shinblind, and impressive analysis of the selection process used in Ludington.

[Willy]

Way to go shinblind. I died laughing when I saw the video showing how easy it is to install Alterlumes product.  The Council definitely needs to explain spending $26,000 rather than changing bulbs.

[AQUAMAN]

Well, it's been a whole week since this thread began, the city council met on this subject, and we located at least 23 burned out bulbs in the center of town. Has anyone got any update on the DPW's response to replacing the bulbs? How about the amount of fixtures being sought for the $26K cost? Is it about 90 at $300/each? Or is it about 30 at almost $1K each? These questions might seem petty, but I think it's important to know if any real action is being taken, or is the DPW still asleep? Asking the cops to do their job isn't working, and so, just saying.... So, are we proposing to spend that money anyhow? Or will shinblind's idea be recognized and someone with common sense find that new LED bulbs can replace old ones, even in old fixtures. A smart betting man would probably bet that the Shyster Shay's idea will win out, and no one on the council will care or do any homework at all!

[XLFD]

Aquaman.

I'll check that out tonight about the burned out bulbs.  FYI, the $26K is just for three blocks in the heart of the downtown, since there are currently 100 or so of the dual fixtures on Ludington and James Street, the cost of replacing all of them would be upwards of $100K. 

[AQUAMAN]

That's great X, and if you could please take some pictures of the dark areas? So, what you're saying on the cost per unit, is that the new replacements are about $1K each? That seem over-budget and out of line to anyone else?