Officials balk at street lights fees

Town Board members are balking at a $10,500street light contract fee from the state Power Authority.

TOWN OF ULSTER, N.Y. » Town Board members have agreed to pay the $9,746 that was listed in an initial contract for a study on converting street lights to LED fixtures but are leaving out the $10,543.47 that state Power Authority officials want under a second contract for administrative fees.

The dispute was discussed during a meeting last week, with Supervisor James Quigley noting the second figure came as a surprise, while the first figure was clearly stated in the agreement.

“I had several discussions with them where I complained about the fact that over the course of two years there was never any indication that this additional fee was going to be charged,” he said.

Quigley suggested that the town pay the entire amount and not have further agreements with state Power Authority officials for streetlight replacements.

“If this is the way they’re going to treat us on the initial study I hate to see what is going to happen if we were going to authorize them to replace the street lights in this town for a sum approaching $300,000,” he said.

The first contract was signed on Aug. 16, 2018, to participate in the state Energy Services program that would “provide design and installation services for an upgrade to the town of Ulster’s existing streetlight technology to energy- efficient technology.”

Under the program, the state would “provide full turn-key services to replace approximately 282 street lighting fixtures with high efficiency LED street lighting fixtures.”

The review included potential upgrades to streetlights in the Albany Avenue, East Kingston, Elemendorf, Kraus Farm, Spring Lake, and Whittier lighting districts as well as 143 other lights throughout the town.

State officials on Sept. 1 sent town officials a bill for the study with cost projection for the work that would be done if board members decided to continue. Included would be $165,809.80 for replacement units; $1,268 for hazardous waste disposal; $46,427.73 for project management; and $134,784.30 to pay Central Hudson for removal of the current streetlights.

State officials estimated that the cost would be paid off in just over five years, with annual savings of $68,527.07 from a 135,317-kilowatt-hour reduction in electricity use.