To the Editor:

Recent literature written in the Warwick Beacon has criticized Mayor Solomon and our City Council regarding their cautious, investigative approach regarding new LED streetlights for Warwick. Their methodology is the right way to go. The conversion will be complex and expensive. However, the long term financial rewards and public safety benefits will be substantial and well worth the investment.

As a person who served as a police officer in the City of Warwick for 34 years, I welcomed the news when I first heard it. This conversion will also give us an opportunity to re-assess and audit our security lighting of city assets like school property, recreational areas, storage facilities, sewer pumping stations and water division properties and equipment, etc.

With over 20 cities and towns in Rhode Island currently embracing or having completed LED streetlight conversion projects, Warwick has the ideal opportunity going forward to research the experiences, resources, and results of efforts by those communities. It will give us a golden opportunity to ask about the quality of work and competence of conversion vendors.

Groundwork for getting this improvement to our city streets will be a big undertaking. The task of retrofitting approximately 9,000 streetlights has to be done at a measured pace.

While looking at a major company’s website who converts traditional lighting to LED’s, I see some of the concerns the Mayor and City Council will have to consider:

• Investment Grade Audit
• Lighting design
• Financial analysis to indicated return on investment
• Savings and payback period details
• Completing applicable incentive applications
• Procurement
• Applying on behalf of the communities for available applicable grants and rebates
• Project management
• Streetlight LED Conversion
• Recycling and/or disposal of waste materials
• Consultancy in regard to streetlight acquisition from utilities

(Siemens Industry Business, Mobility and Logistics Division)

It’s reassuring to know that our elected officials are taking this prudent approach to this endeavor.

Bill Russo

Warwick