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Mostly Cloudy Valley Stream street light installations begin
Crews will replace current fixtures street-by-street
Mayor Ed Fare ceremoniously helped install one of the first of Valley Stream’s new LED street lights on Sept. 24, marking the beginning of a $4.5 million project that is expected to take up to a year to complete and significantly reduce the village’s energy consumption and costs.
“This self-funding project is a win-win for our residents,” Fare said. “Not only do they see real energy savings that will pay for the cost of the program, but they can be proud to know that this money saving project will create jobs and reduce the community’s carbon footprint, all at no cost to the taxpayers.”
All of the Village’s nearly 3,000 existing streetlights, which use halogen bulbs, will be replaced with the brighter and more energy-efficient LED lights. Fare said residents may notice street lights that have gone out not being fixed until crews get to that street. Each halogen bulb costs about $300, he said, and would not be worth replacing as LED installations are underway. Fare said the village normally fixes blown streetlights within 24 hours.
Building Department Superintendent Tom McAleer said each streetlight takes about 30 minutes to replace, which means crews will need to go street by street rather than traveling to individual lights in order to complete the project in a timely manner.
Crews also began installing solar panels on the roof of the band shell at the Village Green. The energy they produce will be used to power Village Hall, Fare said.
“We’re hoping that the solar panels will power Village Hall completely, we’re hoping that they can take the Hall off the grid. We don’t know for sure if that will happen, but that’s our goal,” he said.
The Department of Public Works garage and the village’s pool facility will also receive small energy upgrades.
Village officials are touting the project as a measure that could save the village $6 million over the next 15 years, with some potential for eventually making money on the investment due to future rebates from the Long Island Power Authority.
