Minutes 04/24/1979 - Laserfiche WebLink

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April 24, 1979 Dave Blechman, 3912 Galleon Drive, spoke agains~ the telephone number and address being placed on the wrecker. B. W. Ethier, 4245 Portsmouth Boulevard, stated that the identification - name and addr'ess, should be painted on the tow truck. Morris Fink, 3512 Wright Road, spoke in support of the ordinance. On motion of Mr. Early and seconded by Mr. Oast, or telephone", and the ordinance was adopted on final to amend the ordinance to read reading, as amended, and by the Ayes: Barnes, Early, Gray, Holley, Oast, Nays: None following 79-111 Submission of/report by the City Mananger eliminate lights in recreational areas: Davis concerning control followin~ be established to "Over the past year, various concerns have been expressed over misuse or abuse of lightin~ at recreatianal facilities, particularly in view of ever increasing energy costs. This report~ provides a summary of the actions taken to curtail abuse of City lighting as well as to secure~ more efficient cost of lighting. In an October 7, 1979 memorandum to City Council, I addressed the relalive ~fficiency of metal halide lights versus quartz lighting for Cavalier Manor and City Park. Although the initial cost of the metal halide lights ($16,036) was $5,740 greater than the cost of quartz lights, I projected a net savings of $30,912 over a twelve year period. The project~n was based large- ly on an estim~-~d $103 per court annual electrical cost for metal hali~ compared with $317 for quartz lights. At my request, the Public Works Department measured the actual load at thre~ tennis courts and three senior league ball fields, for each of the three types lighting in use. Additionally, the illumination in footcandles was measured. As indicated on the attached charti, the six tennis courts at Manor High School (meIal.halide) have three times the average illumi- nation of the courts at Churchland Park (quartz), yet the cost per court per hour at Manor is only .128z versus .38¢ for Churchland Park. The illumination of the Simonsdale senior league baseball field (metal halide) is three times greater than a comparable field at Churchland High School (incandescent); however, the cost per field per hour~ for the former is $1.47 versus $5.18 for the latter. We the lights on we could install either a free button or a coin-box. For metal halide considered installation of a timer which would shut lights off at the end of one hour. ~ To turn lights, we determined that such a system would not be feasible. Initially, metal halide lights require approximately a five minute warm-up; however, once the lights are on and turned off, the re-strike time is approximately twenty minutes. In April, 1977 memorandum, I reported on whether the City should light ~ennis courts.,or as an alternative, use the funds for the construction of additional courts. The same compari- son can be applied to other recreational facilities as well. At that time, for $27,000 the City could light ten~nnis courts or build three new tennis courts. The annual electrical costs for the ten lighted courts would be $1,100 per year versus an average annual cost of $1,521 for routine maintenance and periodical resurfacing of three courts. The greatest advantage of lighted courts, however, would be extension of the playing time during the peak demand period. For the Spring and Fall, I projected that ten lighted courts would provide 670 prime hours weekly as compared to 507 prime hours for thirteen unlighted courts. On an experimental basis, we implemented a $2.00 per one and a half hour fee at the tennis~ courts at Churchland. Park and City Park. A participant survey was conducted between June 19 and July 10, 1978 at both locations. At Churchland Park, 78 percent of persons returning the survey favored the fee reservation system, 15 percent opposed and 6 percent was undecided. At City Park, 46 percent favored, 46 percent opposed and 8 percent was undecided. The revenues at Churchland Parkwere $1,235.80 and the expenditures (cost of monitors) were $1,186.78. At City Park, revenues were $469.75 and expenditures were $769.50, for a net cost of $299.75 to the City. Based on the above, the decision was made to retain the system at Churchland Park, and eliminate the system at City Park, effective August 1, 1978. For other <tennis courts within the City, I would project that we would have the same experience as City Park, i.e., revenues would not cover the cost of the person collecting the fee. Unnecessary use of lighting has occurred for three reasons: 1)vandalism, 2) mechanical failure and 3) human error or bad judgment, To reduce the opportunity for vandalism, ext~k heavy ~uty lock boxes have been installed at approximately one half of all ball fields. Addi- tionally, several key operated switches have been installed. The City of Chesapeake is curren- ly experimenting with an electronic switch, similar to a garage door opener. The switch box is located about 30 feet up a pole. With a controller set to the same frequency, a person simply pushes the button to turn the lights on or off. We will test this device at one or two location Presently, all tennis courts except Churchland,and City Park are timed to shut off at 11:00 p.m. Churchland and City Park are timed to shut off at 12:00 a~m. In case of a power failure, the timer must be re-set. For example, ifthere were a two-hour power failure, the lights at City Park would shut off at 2:00 a.m., unless re-set. Responsibility for periodical checking of the timers have been clearly assigned for each location. Human error has occurred both on the part of City staff personnel and volunteer organiza- tions. The department does loan light keys to recognized volunteer organizations. The current policy, as ad~pted by the Parks and Recreation Commission with concurrence from my office, is to warn the group on the first instance lights are left on. Should the lights be left on a second time, a $25 light deposit will be charged. Any violations would be charged against the t %"