Plans to light up the pathway at McGuire Lake have received approval from Salmon Arm council.
While not a unanimous decision, the majority of council agreed on June 12 to allow LED post-top street standards, with participation from Salmon Arm Rotary Daybreak Club.
Council reviewed a letter from the club at council’s March 27, 2023 meeting asking for support to work with city staff to help light the walking paths around the lake.
Council agreed to forward the proposal to assist with lighting of both McGuire Lake and Blackburn Park to be considered in the city’s 2024 budget. Council also referred the proposal to the city’s environmental advisory committee (EAC) for comments on lighting with respect to wildlife.
Although the city applied for a grant in 2021 for the two projects, it was not successful. So, in the 2023 budget, council approved $50,000 to do phase 1 of McGuire Lake.
A report from city staff discussed on June 12 said staff have received comments from individual EAC members but because of no quorum, staff have not received an endorsed recommendation.
Through an engineering company, the city received two different layouts for lighting. One would have amber ‘animal friendly’ lights, while the other would use the city’s standard post-top street light LED ornamental light.
Option 1, with the amber lights, was estimated at $434,500. It would include 34 lights based on their illumination quality. Staff reported that the Daybreak Club was concerned over the additional costs.
Option 2, with directional LED lights, is the one the city has experience with and would require a total of 11 lights at an estimated cost of $202,800.
Staff then gave council two suggestions: A) Go with the city LED lights with financial participation from the Rotary Daybreak Club or B) Go with animal friendly amber lights which might result in losing the club’s participation.
Couns. Debbie Cannon, Kevin Flynn and Louise Wallace Richmond as well as Mayor Alan Harrison spoke in favour of Option 2. Included with it was the addition of timers to turn off the lights at certain times.
Couns. Sylvia Lindgren and Tim Lavery spoke against lighting the lake pathway.
Lindgren’s main concern was the dramatic drop in insects worldwide, insects which feed the fish which feed the grebes – Salmon Arm’s grebe population being one of just three nesting areas left in B.C. She said midges – tiny flies – will hang around lights and then die, not carrying out their role as fish food.
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The city already has too many bright lights at night, Lindgren emphasized.
Lavery said the lights are a well-intentioned good idea, but not good enough from an environmental perspective. He said he hasn’t heard enough evidence to counter the precautionary principle.
“I don’t think in my admittedly non-professional view on this, I don’t view this as being animal friendly and I don’t view it as a win-win because it’s cheaper. And I say that with all the respect for staff and for Rotary who do good environmental work.”
Cannon, who added timers in her motion, said the amber lights are cost prohibitive.
“I really think that a lot of parks in different communities are lit up, and it will be nice to have that in this park. And it’s great that Rotary is willing to put the money towards this project.”
Flynn said the project would provide better lighting and safety.
“In my opinion when we have a community organization that does as much as Rotary does and comes forward wanting to support a project, I can’t see realistically doubling the cost of that project.”
Wallace Richmond said issues around walkways, safety and lighting often come up at the city’s social impact advisory committee, which she chairs. She supported the plan.
Harrison said the option of having 34 street lights “is not a good choice at all” because the number outweighs environmental benefit. He also said the trails and the lights would be a fair distance from the lake, a good plan for protecting wildlife.
Harrison spoke of the success of the lights at Larch Hills. He also talked about Summerland’s path along Okanagan Lake, which uses the same type of LEDs and light standards Salmon Arm will.
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