ELORA – Some councillors are concerned a donor's plan to light up a downtown green space could worsen light pollution in the surrounding neighbourhood.
Centre Wellington councillors approved entering an agreement with Kat Florence Canada Company (Kat Florence) to fund and install seasonal lighting in an Elora green space at a council meeting Monday evening, although Coun. Bronwynne Wilton called the move "counterintuitive" to the township's climate change commitments.
The agreement would see approximately 40 lbs to 60 lbs of lights installed on trees at a green space at 25 Mill Street West in Elora in early November to be turned on after Remembrance Day, turned off at the end of February and removed in early March.
"It does seem a little counterintuitive that we're trying to light up the downtown core to such an extent that our own street lights think its day time when it's actually night," said Wilton. "So I am concerned about what kind of message that sends in terms of are we actually trying to conserve energy or are we just using it however we want to just to make something look pretty in the eyes of a few people."
Asking for more public engagement, Wilton also said the proposed amount of lighting seems "excessive."
"So I am a little concerned...how much light do you actually need to make something feel festive before you get to a point where you're just obliterating the night sky to the point where our streetlights don't work and putting so much weight on our public trees," said Wilton. "I'm just not convinced (this proposal) is actually in the holiday spirit."
Coun. Lisa MacDonald suggested putting lights in the downtown core on a timer so they can be shut off at night and address the shared concerns.
According to the township's managing director of infrastructure services Colin Baker, there was so much ambient light last year that the streetlight photocells thought it was day and kept turning off. Baker said the township plans to adjust their street light's sensitivity to accommodate the area's additional lighting.
The township's managing director of community services Pat Newson said they took a lot of time to assess the proposal and the township's arborist has reviewed and approved the plan and proposed weight.
"Whether this is festive or not, I think one of our goals is to animate and make our downtown's vibrant and this was a draw last year and the rest of the downtown just adds to it as a feature to bring shoppers, visitors and locals to the downtown to enjoy the festive spirit," said Newson.
As the primary donor, Kat Florence has prescribed the retention of Gladiator Pro Wash to perform the work and ensure that the public and the green space assets are protected during this project.
The annual cost for the lighting is approximately $29,000 including HST. The cost of running the lights has not been discussed yet but Newson said if there is an "excessive cost" she's sure the donor would be open to discussion.
Isabel Buckmaster is the Local Journalism Initiative reporter for GuelphToday. LJI is a federally-funded program.