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COUNTY OF ORANGE COMMISSION FOR THE ENVIRONMENT DRAFT Summary of Meeting June 11, 2001 Held at Orange County Southern Human Services Center, Chapel Hill , NC Members Present : Julie Tucker ( Chair ) , Laura Cotterman , Loraine Kohorn , Richard Pratt, Mark Smith . Excused Absences : Cara Crisler, Roy Fortmann , Annette Jurgefski , Hervey McIver, Dan Okun , Lee Rafalow Visitor : Bill Walser Staff Present : David Stancil , ERCD Director ; Rich Shaw, Land Conservation Manager ; Amy Bleckinger, ERCD Intern ; Carol Melton ERCD staff I . Call to Order . Tucker called meeting to order at 7 % 40 p . m . and welcomed Bill Walser ( guest speaker ) . She noted that there was not a quorum because only five CFE members were present . II . Light Pollution Issues Smith reported on some of the issues of " light pollution " and the idea of working towards an ordinance and / or targeting specific county activities that could be effective toward reducing unnecessary lighting in Orange County . Smith described light pollution as " man made light that falls outside the areas of intended illumination . " He noted that light pollution causes energy waste of $ 1 . 5 billion / year in the U . S . and impacts negatively on energy consumption , human health , nocturnal animal habits . Improper lighting can also create a false sense of security for people and causes dangerous blinding optical effects . Smith challenged everyone to look at lighting in their environment to become aware of these types of situations . He also noted that the solutions are not difficult and will pay for themselves . Smith then introduced Bill Walser , local photographer and a member of the International Dark - Sky Association ( IDA ) . Smith and Walser showed slides with some examples of proper and inappropriate lighting fixtures . Issued that were discussed included highway lighting , examples of good and bad lighting for parking lots , athletic fields , other outside facility lighting , and installing " sky caps " on lights to cut down on unnecessary light that goes up into the sky . Walser noted that the Milky Way is no longer visible to eye without telescope . We are losing our heritage of a dark starry nighttime sky A discussion on possible actions included ideas about ordinances , motivating state enabling legislation , and mandating use of state - of- the - art fixtures for county facilities and schools . Staff was asked to investigate who pays for roadway lighting and to obtain county electric bills for CFE review . Walser showed photographs that he has taken from his home telescope and referred CFE members to both the IDA website and his own website for more information ( www . astroimager . com ) . CFE 6/ 11 /01 Draft Summary Page 1 of 3