Memorandum 16-007 Lighting for Fish Dock

Memorandum 16-007

TO:                       MAYOR BETH WYTHE & HOMER CITY COUNCIL

CC:                        KATIE KOESTER, CITY MANAGER

FROM:                  BRYAN HAWKINS, PORT DIRECTOR/HARBORMASTER

DATE:                   DECEMBER 29, 2015

SUBJECT:           BUDGET APPROPRIATION FOR FISH DOCK LIGHTING UPGRADE

In 2011, the City of Homer conducted a system-wide energy audit.  This led to many upgrade tasks being completed, which in turn led to lowering our overall energy consumption and reducing our operational costs. The high mast lights at the harbor were much discussed during those studies and several recommendations for replacement were researched. At the time it was decided that the technology had not been developed to the point where we felt comfortable spending the dollars needed to make this improvement.

Staff has continued to study high mast security lighting options for our facility, and for the past year we focused our efforts on the fish dock’s 75’ poles. Basically, we have four light options for these poles; metal halide (our current bulb), high pressure sodium (the orange colored light), LED (light emitting diodes), and LEP (light emitting plasma). Because both the LED and LEP lamps use half as much energy as either the high pressure sodium or the metal halide, we chose to test both lamp types on the dock. After several months of trials, it is our conclusion that the LEPs are better suited for the taller poles like what is on the fish dock. We have had one in place as a test model for over a year without any issues. The new light stands out from the rest because of its distinctive white light coloration.  In fact, we are now so confident that these lights put more useable light on the ground that we plan to reduce the overall number of fixtures on the dock from 10 to 8. One of the claims that the LEP lamps offer is their ability to cut through fog and snow, and we can now confirm this claim from our practical product testing.

Staff is also very interested in finding an energy saving option for our 150’ high mast light poles. We would like to send out requests for quotes to suppliers to see what options may be out there since we last looked into this subject four years ago. We estimate that our system-wide energy costs for facility lighting is approximately $80,000 annually. If we could achieve the same level of savings facility-wide as what we’ll be seeing at the fish dock, while maintaining the same standards of lighting, then we need to once again, thoroughly investigate our options.

Included is an analysis of the fish dock lighting upgrade, which compares our current 1000 watt fixtures to the new 500 watt Bright Light LEP lamps, and shows a project cost payback of just over two years.

The port commission reviewed this proposal for the fish dock lighting upgrade at their December meeting and asked staff to bring it to the council for funding.

Recommendation: Direct staff to move ahead with purchasing 8 Bright Light Systems light fixtures and installing them on the fish dock facility as soon as possible.

Fiscal Note: Project funding to come from Port and Harbor Reserves Account No. 456-380.