BRADENTON BEACH – The city commission agreed to absorb higher monthly and annual streetlight bills in support of replacing 45 beachside streetlights with amber-colored LED lighting fixtures designed to avoid disorienting nesting sea turtles and their hatchlings.
On Nov. 5, the city commission voted 4-0 in support of the city’s annual streetlight-related energy and maintenance costs increasing by an estimated $6,675 per year, or $556 per month. Commissioner Debbie Scaccianoce was absent with excuse.
The commission-supported increase would raise the city’s annual streetlight costs paid to Florida Power & Light (FPL) from $5,213 to $11,888 for electrical service and the maintenance of the streetlights.
According to the presentation Manatee County Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker provided the commission, the conversion project would encompass 45 lights, but the city’s agenda packet stated 46 streetlights would be converted to turtle-friendly streetlights.
The city’s meeting packet included the following sample motion: “I move to approve for Florida Power & Light to convert the designated 46 street lights to LED turtle-friendly street lights in Bradenton Beach, and further, the city agrees to pay the increase in monthly cost per light, with full maintenance, from $19.26 to $44.06.”
Those figures equate to a $24.80 increase per streetlight per month.
FPL is expected to install the new streetlight fixtures at no additional cost to the city.
The commission directed City Attorney Erica Augello to work with FPL on a new streetlight agreement that formalizes the city’s revised costs – and to bring that agreement back to the commission for final approval.
HUNSICKER PRESENTATION
The commission took these actions after Hunsicker told commissioners the county worked with city staff for several months to address sea turtle disorientation incidents recorded during the recently concluded nesting season.
Hunsicker was joined at the city commission meeting by Natural Resources Department Project Manager Josh Menendez and Ryan Hessong, a marine resources environmental specialist who helped monitor turtle nesting and lighting on the beach.
Hunsicker said the amber-colored streetlights and their wavelengths are nearly invisible to sea turtles, and many coastal communities have made similar successful conversions.
Hunsicker said the county identified 45 fixtures along Gulf Drive and other areas visible from the beach that would be converted from the current high-pressure sodium lights or white LED lights. Hunsicker said the new fixtures are approved by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) and meet Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) standards, while still providing sufficient light for pedestrians and vehicles.
Hunsicker said the new LED lighting fixtures cost more to maintain and replace than older lights, which accounts for much of the city’s increased costs, despite energy savings produced by the LED lighting technology.
He said the county has also been working with property owners and code enforcement to address non-turtle-friendly lighting used at private homes and rental properties along the Gulf shoreline, favoring education over enforcement. Hunsicker said many property owners were unaware of the lighting disorientation problems, and they agreed to notify their tenants and guests.
“It’s the right thing to do; and like everything, it has a cost,” Mayor John Chappie said of the streetlight conversions that he noted still require additional clarification.
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
When contacted later, Hessong and Menendez, via Hunsicker, confirmed the conversion project would entail 45 streetlights, and the light fixture chosen will drive the final cost.
“The $11,888 annual maintenance estimate is contingent upon FWC’s approval of the ATB-2 fixture. Without that, the costs would increase,” Hessong and Menendez stated in their email to Hunsicker and The Sun.
Regarding the city’s monthly fee to be paid to FPL, the county email said, “The monthly fee will pay the electricity bill and the monthly maintenance per light. The maintenance cost per light accounts for both its electricity use and its maintenance.”
When speaking to The Sun on Monday afternoon, Hunsicker said the four FDOT-controlled streetlights at the Gulf Drive/Cortez Road intersection must maintain FDOT’s minimum lighting intensity standards, and those lighting conversions would be a separate state project.
“We’re not going to make it darker than to effectuate a dangerous traffic condition. The upgrade to turtle-friendly lighting will follow FDOT’s own standards for brightness and safety standards,” Hunsicker said.
Regarding the county’s involvement in the streetlight conversions as a whole, Hunsicker said, “It’s the city lights and it’s the state lights and Manatee County is working with both parties to try to bring this into compliance.”
