Cañon City's historic Main Street and downtown area may become much brighter in 2013 after the city updates 100 of its streetlights with LED lighting.
The streetlights would line Main Street from First to Ninth streets, some side streets and the roundabout at 15th Street.
A new street light, left, stands next to an old one on Main Street.
An executive summary prepared by Senior Account Executive Oscar Rangel of Johnson Controls said the goals of the lighting program are to further enhance the visibility of the area while providing energy savings and contributing to a more sustainable lighting product.
"The LED lighting lasts for about 50,000 hours," said City Administrator Doug Dotson during Tuesday's public works meeting. "In normal operating conditions, that amounts to about 12 years at 100 percent illumination."
After 12 years, the illumination level drops to about 70 percent, Dotson said, which is equivalent to the downtown's current level of high-pressure sodium lighting. The light's life span is about 15 years.
With the new lights, the city could expect to see an energy savings of about $7,000 per year; an operation and maintenance savings of $500 per year; and a Black Hills rebate of $15,600. The simple payback over time would be 17 years.
"At the end of about 13 years, we will have paid the system off and will begin to replace the LED light elements within the fixtures," Dotson said. "There will be some cost there that we're going to have to absorb beyond this payback before we actually start getting into savings and that will continue as we go forward."
The project is expected to cost about $124,000 -- all of which is included in the 2013 budget, but the council also may consider financing the project at a 3.5 to 4 percent fee for seven years in order to maintain the city's cash flow. The cost to finance would be about $20,000 and would extend the payback period, but it also has been included in the 2013 budget if council chooses that option.
Also Tuesday, Cañon City Interim Police Chief Paul Schultz said the department is moving toward a program called COMPSTAT using computerized statistics to track and map crimes.
With the program, officers can get a snapshot of crime with the interactive Map and List View using GIS maps of the community. They can adjust the date range and view crimes that occurred within the past 24 hours, three days, three months or more. They also can click an incident marker and get instant access to incident details.
"There are about 1,200 police departments across the country that have this software package," Schultz said. "About 20 of those are in Colorado."
He said when the program was introduced in New York City, it reduced crime by 1 percent a month for 27 months.
Schultz expects the program to be fully implemented by the end of the year.
In other business, the committee revisited the Macon Avenue Plaza and agreed to move forward with the project.
"Most of the people that I've been talking to that were against it are a lot happier now that they have seen the library ramp done," said Councilman Roger Parsons. "But they want the alley fixed."
Dotson said the short-term plan for the plaza is expected to be completed in time for the Chamber of Commerce's Biketoberfest event Oct. 6.
