Town council searches for light
Replacing the lighting in town continues to stir debate on the Town of Fort Myers Beach Council.
After a proposal to replace the existing blue lights by installing white LED lights was defeated last month, the board is still divided as to where to go from here. The board voted against the previous proposal based on worries they would disturb the nesting of turtles.
With representatives of Florida Power & Light in attendance Dec. 5 to answer questions, Councilmember Bruce Butcher asked about the efficiency and funding differences between the town using white LED lights or going with amber lighting. Amber lights would be less efficient and more costly, they explained.
Fort Myers Beach Manager Roger Hernstadt said the town’s current blue lights are reaching the end of their lifespan. The manufacturer doesn’t make the parts anymore, making them difficult and expensive to repair.
“Our strategy is to replace all of those blue lights, the question is with what,” he said.
Butcher stressed that if the town used the white LED lights, the costs could be covered through federal funds. The amber-coated lighting would not be reimbursable and would be much more expensive, he cautioned. Hernstadt said that was his understanding but just how much more has not yet been fully researched by the town.
“So we get free lights and we pay big bucks for the amber lights,” Butcher said.
“That’s what we’ve been able to determine to date,” Hernstadt said.
To assuage concerns among some council members that the white LED lights would harm turtles nesting on the beach, FP&L said the lighting could be installed with shields.
“These are very advanced lights compared to what they were a few years ago,” Butcher said.
Councilmember Rexann Hosafros said white lights had been tried in the past and failed, causing a turtle disorientation.
Butcher said if the white lights are installed properly, there is probably not a need for amber lights on Crescent City Beach. Butcher said some people are saying the white lights causes sleeping disorders. “That also is somewhat of a myth.”
Hosafros didn’t like the reference to myths.
“I’m bothered to hear my esteemed fellow councilor to use the word myth when he’s talking about lighting studies,” she said. Hosafros said the lighting study she referenced about sleeping disorders came from the American Medical Association.
“The shielding has been tried in the past and it hasn’t worked,” she said. “I don’t have a great deal of trust in what FP&L is providing. I have in the past council term had exchanges with them and they were not particularly cooperative or helpful.”
Hosafros said she voted in the past to approve their new LED lights and “not long after that happened we had a turtle disorientation.”
Hosafros said there are many other choices, including cheaper ones, than what FP&L is offering the town.
“Maybe we should look at other choices besides what FP&L is providing and it would save us money in the long run. I would like to broaden our scope.”
FP&L External Affairs Director Charlotte Miller said she would be contacting Hosafros in the near future to talk about her experiences with the company to rectify that.
Hernstadt said the town could keep the blue lights in for a year “and punt” while looking for more alternatives at Times Square and San Carlos Boulevard.
“We were looking at the white LED safety lights basically free. So we can explore other alternatives and I’m sure there are thousands out there but those won’t be free, necessarily free, but we can look at it and see if we can figure out a way to get them qualified for the federal program or not.”
If the concern is money, Hernstadt said “maybe we should just be biting the bullet and setting the example of doing the right thing” by putting in a combination of white lights and LED’s in.
Mayor Anita Cereceda questioned just what the right thing was. She said “people would hate it” at the bottom of the Matanzas Pass Bridge. “There has got to be other options.”
Shamp said the lights have to be both turtle friendly and human friendly. As far as weighing the costs of new lights go, Shamp said “we blow up $65,000 in fireworks.”
She supports working with the FP&L to see if they can provide the proper amber lights. “Let’s be the model town for how we get this right.”
At the board’s Dec. 9 meeting, Butcher said “what we have to be looking for is the protection of the citizens and visitors here of the beach primarily and if you can do well for the turtles as well that’s great. But you can’t do for the turtles and sacrifice the people.”
Hosafros responded by saying “I believe it’s possible to do both.”
Butcher said he thinks the “white lights will do both.”
For now, the town will keep its blue lights.