New light on the Village

Among the 515 street and park lights in the Village of Warwick, 187 have been converted to LEDs, while 53 decorative lights have yet to be evaluated, according to Deputy Mayor Barry Cheney, who oversees the project. Village of Warwick trustees discussed streetlight issues at their July 18 meeting, run by Cheney in the absence of Mayor Michael Newhard. The Village is preparing to purchase new streetlights.

“This is something we have been working on for a number of years, and last year we moved ahead with the project by hiring a consultant to help us do it,” said Deputy Cheney.

The Board has been working with Orange and Rockland to decide on prices for the purchase of light fixtures and arms. They have also changed multiple mercury vapor and high pressure sodium lamps to LEDs.

“We have also decided to move ahead with the smart technology, which is a control system at each lamp,” said Cheney.

The control system would allow changes in intensity and brightness of the lights. Before that change, their independent consultant, from Real Time Energy, will do a detailed evaluation of the current street light system.

Mayor Michael Newhard acknowledged that LED brightness can be problematic for some. He recalled a woman troubled by migraines who was bothered by LED light. The smart technology would allow individual light adjustment.