By CHRISTINA GUENTHNER Argus-Press Staff Writer | Posted: Monday, July 22, 2013 10:11 am
PERRY —The city of Perry will soon be getting new, more energy-efficient streetlights.
The Perry City Council Tuesday approved a contract with the Energy Alliance Group of Michigan for an amount not to exceed $30,168.
The company presented information of two types of induction lighting during the July 2 city council meeting — an acorn fixture and a retrofit fixture — and the council has decided to move forward using a combination of the two.
“I really like the idea of using different fixtures in different areas of town,” council member Tom Chaput said during Tuesday’s city council meeting. “I really did like the acorn fixtures downtown because the lights shine off the walls of the city buildings down there, and that really lit up the downtown area. The other fixtures I thought really work well in the outlying sections. The lights shine down on the highway, where they should be, and not going into people’s homes as much as the acorn fixtures that we’re looking to have downtown.”
The induction lights are more energy-efficient and have a longer life than the lights currently in place, according to the Energy Alliance Group of Michigan.
Information provided to council by the company states that both options would produce an average savings of $6,593 a year. Induction lights also have a 100,000 hour life — about seven times longer than the city’s current lights — and they operate silently, with no noise or flickering, according to the presentation.
“From my perspective, I like the long-term cost savings,” Mayor Pro Tem James Huguelet said during Tuesday’s city council meeting. “The lights last longer, and we end up with cost savings.”
City Clerk Devin Miller was uncertain when the lights would be installed because the company still has to order them.
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