POUGHKEEPSIE – Vassar College and the Town of Poughkeepsie have inked an agreement calling for the college to donate and install 21 energy-efficient LED streetlights along Raymond Avenue.
Approved by the town board, the new lights are tentatively scheduled to be installed next month, said Bryan Swarthout, Vassar’s vice president for Finance and Administration.
Vassar is paying $38,000 for the 21 streetlights, located on Raymond Avenue between College and Fulton avenues, and the college.
The LED fixtures will save the town an estimated 7,000 kilowatt-hours per year in energy costs, equivalent to the average energy use of a Hudson Valley household.
“As a campus, we are committed to becoming carbon neutral by 2030,” said Micah Kenfield, Vassar’s director of Sustainability. “Part of that commitment is replacing light fixtures throughout the campus. While these 21 fixtures on Raymond Avenue weren’t part of our original scope of work, we thought it made sense to add this incremental expense to the project to support the town’s own sustainability effort and create more beneficial lighting to the Vassar community as well as the greater Poughkeepsie community that frequents Raymond Avenue.”
The installation of the light fixtures marks the final component of a plan to replace 205 light fixtures on the Vassar campus including streetlights owned by the college on the Vassar side of Raymond Avenue, Swarthout said.
The college collaborated with the Arlington Business Improvement District on the energy saving measures.
“These energy-efficient lights will not only save town taxpayers money but will create much better visibility compared to the incandescent lights we are replacing. The project fits the goals of the college and the Arlington Business Improvement District to create a more walkable community,” Swarthout said
“These lights will help in reducing our carbon footprint and are ‘dark-sky’ approved,” said Town Supervisor Jay Baisley.
