NARROWSBURG, NY — A public hearing on the Town of Tusten lighting district was held before the regular town board meeting on Tuesday, July 14. The hearing was regarding the Tusten Energy Committee’s proposed changes to the street lights.

The committee is suggesting that the number of poles be reduced, as there is too much lighting, and that the remaining poles be switched to LED light bulbs. Currently there are 102 poles, and they are aiming for a 20% reduction. At the public hearing, the committee, especially Chair Brandi Merolla, made it clear that they were not deciding for the people in the lighting district, and that the committee wanted to hear the opinions of the people in the district. If they didn’t want lights taken down, the town would not take them down. “We’re not telling you that you have to do anything. We’re here to make recommendations,” said Merolla.

The committee presented their plan along with a map of suggested street lights to remove, which includes many lights on Bridge and Main streets. They said there are two reasons to take down some poles: to save money and to reduce energy consumption. There was not much public comment, and many people were there just to ask questions. Stephen Stuart, the co-executive director of Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development, addressed the Tusten Energy Committee, which is made up of Merolla, Tusten Town Supervisor Carol Wingert, Star Hesse and Charles Blanchard. “I applaud your work,” Stuart said. “LED lighting makes a lot of sense.” He went on to describe that cities like Los Angeles and Boston will replace their street lighting with LED bulbs.

However, there are some problems, which the energy committee outlined. The street lights are owned by NYSEG (New York State Electric and Gas Corporation), and the company will not replace the lights with LED bulbs, which are currently high-pressure sodium light bulbs. Therefore, the energy committee plans to hire an outside company to install the LED lights. Further problems arise due to the fact that, if the town were to take down the existing light bulbs, NYSEG would still charge the town for the number of hours remaining on each bulb. Currently, each light is costing the town $6.83 per month. And, NYSEG charges the town whether a light is working or not. The energy committee’s plan is to wait for bulbs to burn out, and then replace them with LED.

Solar panels

There was a short update on the solar panel project. Merolla said the panels were scheduled to be installed in June, however, because of the project being reported to the New York State Department of Labor regarding paying prevailing wages for installation, it has been delayed.

Main Street deck

The town board discussed the bid for the Main Street deck project. They decided to have a public hearing on whether or not to go to bid with the Chazen design plan. The bid would cost around $12,000, but some of the state grant of $106,000 could be used to cover half of that cost. The public hearing will be held prior to the next regular town board meeting, August 11 at 6 p.m. They will discuss it at that meeting, and then vote on it at the September meeting. Then, the bid quote would need to come before the referendum is held. The bidding process could take months.