Tarentum saves $30,000 by rebuilding street light fixtures

A project to replace Tarentum’s street lights will save taxpayers more than $30,000, officials said.

The savings won’t come through lower energy consumption, Manager Michael Nestico said, rather the lower cost of the light mechanism.

“The street lights were already LED,” Nestico said.

Borough leaders chose to rebuild the fittings rather than buying new ones to replace failing lights.

It amounts to a savings of more than $1,100 on each fixture.

“We’re paying a fraction of the cost,” Nestico said.

The LED lights were purchased several years ago. Since then, the lamps have started to dim or fail.

Many of them were replaced under warranty but, since that has expired, it cost the borough about $1,200 to replace each light.

“It was becoming rather costly,” he said. “We examined other ways to resolve the issue.”

There are at least 28 lampposts that need to be replaced.

Public works employees worked with experts from Latrobe-based Schultheis Electric and Tarentum Hardware to modify the existing components of the lights.

The result slashed the cost to less than $100 for each light.

Schultheis Electric owner Tim Schultheis also is his company’s project manager for Tarentum. He worked with the borough on building the fittings for the street lights.

“The components are more cost-effective now,” he said. “As time goes on, they will become even more developed and the cost will continue to go down.”

The borough’s public works department has been working to remove and repair the lights over the past few weeks and began reinstalling them last week.