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03/22/2007: "Solar Lights For Courthouse Parking Lot?"

Facing demands from Labor & Industries to provide adequate lighting for the court house parking lot, and finding the costs to install have gone from 60K to perhaps over 100k, Councilman Rich Peterson did a little investigating to see if there was some way to shed some new light on the problem, and found something on solar lighting for parking lots that looked promising

Rock was one of the reasons the bid to install standard lighting had come in so high. Peterson asked Public Works Director Jon Shannon if Public Works had looked into the use of solar lighting as a way to reduce costs of the blasting and digging through rock in the parking lot; work that was needed to supply electrical power for lighting.



Shannon told the Council he did not know if they had looked into it or not, but if not, would now. Both Peterson and Shannon wondered if the units would be unable to provide the necessary illumination required by the State, but Shannon said they would make contact with companies that manufactured such units

L & I (Labor & Industries) has received a number of complaints from at least one county employee that the parking lot is not well lit, and there have been cases of damage to cars in the lot. In response to the complaints, L&I had conducted an investigation, and found the lighting was inadequate. As the plans were made to install additional lighting, concerns were expressed that the lighting should meet Town of Friday Harbor lighting standards that control off site glare and encourage historical lighting on property not in the right-of-way.

Councilman Gene Knapp noted that lighting for the parking lot has been discussed since 2004, and prior boards have pushed it forward to future boards. Knapp complained that by "slipping to us what they should have done, this has an effect on out budget; and it makes us look bad". Administrator Pete Rose said that the Council cannot continue to put it off, and L&I could simply make them install adequate lighting if they receive another complaint.