ROCKPORT — Members of the Rockport Select Board voted unanimously May 28 to engage RealTerm Energy to swap out the existing street lights and exterior lights throughout town for energy efficient LED fixtures. Mark Carter, of RealTerm, attended the meeting and estimated that the municipality’s lighting fixtures would be replaced as early as September.

The proposal by RealTerm calls for replacing of some 240 light fixtures throughout town, many of which are owned by Central Maine Power, the company which also supplies them with electricity.

When the town replaces these with energy efficient light sources, the new LED lights would be owned by the municipality. Carter said that once the contract between the town and RealTerm is signed, the company will audit of each street light in Rockport, then work with CMP to over a period of two weeks to reconcile which lamps are owned by the town, CMP or the Maine Department of Transportation.

The next phase of the project will involve RealTerm creating a photometric design of all of the streets in Rockport, which is estimated to take three to four weeks to complete.

This design of the town’s streets and light posts will then be presented to town officials for approval before moving forward.

Carter said he would also be bringing three different types of LED streetlamps to an upcoming meeting so members of the public and the Select Board could view them. Installation of the new lamps would begin in early fall.

The LED fixtures RealTerm’s have an average lifespan of 100,000 hours or 23 years, and carry a 10-year warranty. The LED lights can also be dimmed or brightened via remote control. The company would need to conduct an audit over a day and a half to collect all the data necessary from the existing fixtures to prepare for the project.

Carter first presented RealTerm’s proposal to the Select Board at a meeting in March. At that time he estimated that the current light fixtures, most of which consist of high-pressure sodium bulbs in a cobra head style lamp, use a total of 109,000 kilowatt hours of energy per year.

When replaced with “smart-ready” LED fixtures, the annual energy use would be reduced to 38,000 kilowatt hours, a decrease in energy consumption of approximately 69 percent, he said.

Carter offered a rough estimate of $126,000 for the total cost of the project, which he projected would pay for itself after 3.3 years due to savings in energy costs. There are several financing options for the project which include a tax-exempt lease, which typically have an interest rate of 4.1 percent.

Carter said that the annual energy cost for the lighting would decrease from $55,000 to $11,000; the annual cost per fixture would decrease from $244 to $46. In order to proceed with the project, the town would have to “buy back” the existing streetlights from CMP at an estimated cost of $24,000. The fixtures would then be recycled.

At Tuesday’s meeting, Carter said that other town’s in Maine who have switched to LED exterior lighting typically choose lights with a “color temperature” of between 2700 and 3000 kelvins (K.) Bulbs in the 2700K-3000K range are considered “soft-white.”

Bulbs in the 3500K-4100K are considered “bright white,” and 5000K-6500K is considered daylight. Freeport is an example of a city in Maine which has switched entirely to LED streetlights in the 2700K-3000K range.

In other municipal business

The Select Board approved the appointment of Mary Beth Van Keuren as the new owner’s representative to oversee the construction of the new Rockport Public Library, pending an agreed upon contract between Van Keuren and the town.

Van Keuren is an independent structural engineer who currently serves as owner’s rep on the Camden-Rockport Middle School. She replaces Phi Builders on the library project, after the company moved from owner’s rep to the new building’s contractor last month.

Town Manager Rick Bates estimates that Van Keuren will work seven to 10 hours per week overseeing the library project, while spending 15 hours per week at the middle school. Bates said Van Keuren will be paid $75 per hour a period for 60 weeks, not to exceed $45,000 in total. He said that Van Keuren was one of two candidates interviewed for the position, and that she initially applied to serve as owner’s rep at the time that Phi was selected for the job two years ago.

Bates, who will be retiring from his role as Town Manager in June, will continue to work for the town as a consultant on the library project.

The board also discussed the role of the Library Building Committee, and it’s revised duties as the construction of the library moves forward. Board member Debra Hall presented revisions to the committee’s charge which she made with input from Chairman Ken McKinley.

The draft prepared by Hall states that the committee will work with the architect, the owner’s representative, the library consultant “and other professionals to secure the best project outcome possible.”

Other language added to the document affects the decision-making powers of the committee, and how potential change orders will be addressed: “The Building Committee will recommend choices of materials and finishes that are within the budget of the Town and shall not in any case have the authority to approve any item not within the budget established by the Town and approved by the Select Board....Change orders having a financial implication on the Town of Rockport may only be approved by the Select Board, regardless of who proposes the change order.”