CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The City of Charleston will soon be making some significant infrastructural improvements, including the installation of nearly 6,000 LED streetlights and the possible preservation of a few brick roads.
Charleston City Council unanimously approved the agreement between the city and Appalachian Power to replace a total of 5,900 streetlights during Monday’s regular meeting. The agreement involves the use of Appalachian Power’s own LED lights to first be demonstrated in the city through a pilot program to help determine the installation cost, the maintenance of the lights, and the benefits that they are expected to bring.
A city council member of two years, Emmett Pepper has been one of the main advocates of the new light system, as he said they will not only improve the looks of the city, but make it more energy efficient.
“I’m hoping we can modernize our lights and make it look better, and cleaner, and it’s more modern, it uses less electricity, as well, which is good,” said Pepper.
The LED light effort was originally a focus of the city’s Green Team which Pepper was a member of, and which had gotten an energy saving ordinance passed requiring the city to cut its energy use by 25% by 2023.
Pepper said the particular LED lights AEP are looking into getting for the city are SMART lights, which have more advanced features than the traditional incandescent bulbs, such as better being able to accommodate to its surroundings, the ability to adjust its brightness, and, according to the U.S Department of Energy, use up to 90% less energy and are longer-lasting.
While the contract between the city and AEP states the LED lights are expected to cost more than the current streetlights the city pays for, the electric company will provide the city with the lights at a lower rate than the normal going-rate of LED lights. The city will not pay installation fees beyond what they already pay per month, which will not exceed 4.8% of what they pay for streetlights.
After much push from the community to have an updated lighting system, Pepper said city council is doing everything they can to ensure the LED lights will accommodate everyone’s needs.
“LED streetlights are definitely the way of the future, we’ve done everything we can to make sure this is a modern, cost-effective way for meeting our lighting needs, and we hear a lot about needing better lights, and so this will address that need that we hear from our constituents about,” said Pepper.
Pepper did not yet have a timeline for when the new lights are going to be installed, but said that it depends on the supply chain and when the materials can get here.
The project will likely be done in sections around the city at a time.
Pepper said he also just introduced a resolution relating to the preservation of some of the brick roads around the city. The proposal asks that the brick streets are protected, and when repairs are needed, they are replaced with more bricks.
He said Summers Street has a particularly interesting past regarding its former brick.
“One thing that’s interesting, the first brick street in the United States of America was right in downtown Charleston,” Pepper said.
Pepper said there’s still about seven brick roads throughout the city, most of them in the Edgewood area and one in South Hills, and residents in those areas seem to be all for sticking to tradition.
“I just think it’s nice and the people who live on those streets also think it’s nice, they are very passionate people, especially in the Edgewood area about their brick streets,” he said.
Pepper said some of the residents even have been buying road grade bricks to be replaced when any repairs affecting the roads are made to avoid the brick be covered up by concrete patches.
While Pepper’s resolution for the brick streets haven’t been approved by the full council yet, he said it will be reviewed by a committee.