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county if the lighting standards are not appropriate can cause a certain amount of sky <br />glow and it can damage the typical night sky that a lot of people enjoy. <br />"This light pollution that I think a lot of people can attest to in the last five to ten years <br />has been appreciable. And was even recognized last week on a foggy night when I was driving <br />back from Carrboro and in the distance on Highway 54 you could see a major glow. I said that <br />this could not be Burlington or Graham. It was a small car dealership out in White Cross area, <br />that looked like there was some sort of major sale going on there. <br />"So even some small projects can have quite an impact upon the rural environment. <br />Besides the businesses and residences, this light pollution can affect the enjoyment of the night, <br />the dark sky, and enjoyment by the neighbors. You will also notice that driving conditions based <br />on inappropriate lighting can also cause hazards while driving. And energy conservation, we <br />just didn't want to limit it to light pollution, we understand that in our age of energy star housing <br />where we are reducing the amount of energy necessary for housing, there is also a way of <br />reducing the amount of energy for lighting and you have noticed the different color -coded <br />lighting out there." <br />"There are certain types of lighting that are high- energy consumption. And what we are <br />suggesting, at least at the public hearing stage, is the prohibition of mercury vapor lighting, <br />which is, as we have analyzed, high- energy consumption. And there is a chart which we will go <br />to next that gives an example of some of the lighting fixtures that are available and some of the <br />costs that accrue to the people who pay the bill afterwards." <br />"Now we also understand that the costs of the initial installation is part of the capital <br />improvement and costs of providing these facilities, but also if you take a look at the cost of the <br />electric service afterwards, by reducing this long term electric consumption, the need and <br />dependency on sources of electricity could be brought down. <br />"Also another initiative that we are taking a look at is where possible and where feasible <br />and applicable, we are encouraging the use of solar lighting, and solar lighting technology which <br />has over the last five years moved forward in leaps and bounds and we are interested in <br />proceeding with some sort of solar lighting application at our building in Orange County. The <br />lighting was knocked down in a storm a few years and we are still without signs and without <br />lighting and so we hope to have some new technology for solar lighting for the sign. This is just <br />a quick chart of energy conservation — low pressure sodium, 35 watts, annual operating costs <br />about $19.00, high pressure sodium —75 watt fixtures, about $30.00, middle halide- 100watt <br />bulbs, $37.00 approximately, and mercury vapor —175 watts, $67.00. <br />"So you can see almost 3Y2 times the cost of providing lighting with different types of <br />fixtures and applications. Now there is a combination- it doesn't mean that you have to provide <br />3 Y2 times as many lighting fixtures as low- pressure sodium to make the project work. This is <br />just an example of what we have done in energy conservation analysis to make sure that future <br />lights take that into consideration. We hope that the benefits abound and to improve driving <br />conditions but still allowing for appropriate security for people that want to preserve their <br />property, using conservation measures to reduce our dependency on electricity, using these <br />solar opportunities, supporting the dark skies initiative so people can enjoy the stars out there. <br />And also taking a look at lighting so that it is used for its intended purposes of security and <br />invisibility and using crime prevention through environmental design techniques. So those are <br />some of the positive consequences. <br />"So that is in essence where we are going with the new amendments to our lighting <br />standards. That is all for the presentation that Robert has tonight. We did recognize a note that <br />came in from Duke Power that mentioned a few sections of our Ordinance. I just read this <br />before the meeting and they said that some parts of the ordinance were good and they would <br />