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FRIDAY, AUGUST 23, 2013
City street lights to get brighter, cheaper with LEDs Replacement starts Monday and could save city hundreds of thousands of dollars By Brian Beckley bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
Renton’s future is looking a little bit brighter. And cheaper. Beginning Monday, the City of Renton will begin replacing its 3,685 street lights with Light Emitting Diode lights that should be brighter, cheaper and more environmentally friendly. Public Works director Gregg Zimmerman said the new lights will save the city
about $271,000 per year in energy costs, before debt service is factored in. “You can see this is a really good investment in terms of saving money,” he said. Zimmerman said the city presently spends more than $1 million per year on power costs for the city’s street lights, including traffic signals. Over the next four months, the city will replace the old style high pressure sodium lights with LEDs. According to Zimmerman, along with “significantly less” energy costs, the new lights will also produce a purer, cleaner light. Whereas the high pressure sodium lights create a yellow/orange glow, the new lights are almost pure white. “It actually provides more true color
distinction,” he said. The $4.3 million project is funded in part by two grants. The city received a $589,000 Utility Incentive Grant from Puget Sound Energy and a $500,000 grant from the Department of Commerce. The remaining $3.2 million will be financed through a 15-year low-interest Qualified Energy Conservation Bond. Zimmerman said the debt service on the bonds will be about $216,000 per year, making the net savings to the city an estimated $55,000 per year for the first 15 years with the savings jumping to the full amount after the bonds are paid. “The LED light upgrades will result in significant energy and cost savings for the
city while providing better lighting,” Mayor Denis Law said in a press release. On top of that, city spokesperson Preeti Shridhar said there would be a savings in maintenance costs as well because the bulbs last longer, saving manpower as well as bulb costs. “It’s not just the cost of the bulb when you’re talking replacement,” she said. Though all of the city-owned lights will be replaced, not all of lights in the city will be changed to LEDs. Zimmerman said about 2,000 lights are owned by PSE and several homeowners associations own ornamental street lights. Those will not be replaced through this [ more Lights page 11 ]
Three charged in Aug. 9 residential burglary attempt By Brian Beckley bbeckley@rentonreporter.com
The Henry Moses Aquatic Center celebrated its 10th anniversary with an evening Tiki Party on Aug. 16. Patrons were treated to a night of swimming and fun in the moonlight, including a brief power surge that knocked out the main lights for about 15 minutes, resulting in the only lights coming from under the water. Families, like Yan Saechao and his son Thai, 4, left, were also treated to live entertainment from a band that set up and rocked out classic rock hits. MORE PHOTOS online… Brian Beckley, Renton Reporter
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The three mean arrested during a five-hour standoff with members of the Valley SWAT team earlier this month have all been charged with residential burglary. Andrew Robert Becker, Mohamed Ali Hussein and Abdi M. Wasuge were all arrested Aug. 9 after they were caught leaving - or inside - a home in the Chinquapin neighborhood of Renton and were charged Tuesday with a single count each. Police on Aug. 9 were dispatched to the neighborhood after a resident reported seeing a man kick in the front door of a residence. Numerous officers responded and observed the suspect vehicle, a white SUV, parked in the driveway with a driver inside. Police contacted the driver, Wusage, and waited for the two males seen entering the house to leave. Upon exiting, the men saw the spolice and ran back in the house. One of the men was arrested and the other stayed inside the house, which was surrounded by Valley SWAT team members who were training nearby. Becker, the vehicle’s owner, called to report his car had been stolen from the West Hill of [ more Charges page 8 ]