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Council approves electrical add‑on and moves forward with permanent downtown decorative lighting
Summary
After an extended presentation, the council approved an additional $385 for electrical hookups to allow permanent programmable decorative lighting on downtown municipal buildings and selected a snowflake design for Main Street decorations. Councilmembers raised dark‑sky concerns and requested photos and program examples before full deployment.
The Bryce Canyon City Council approved a modest electrical allowance to allow installation of a permanent programmable decorative lighting system on downtown buildings, after a lengthy presentation from the vendor and detailed council questions about brightness, dark‑sky impacts and mounting options.
Freeman, the vendor, told the council the proposed fixtures use high‑quality casings that act as diffusers and are rated for roughly 50,000 hours (he estimated a service life measured in decades under typical usage). He explained that the fixtures can be programmed for subtle “accent” patterns outside the holiday season and that brighter, full‑on displays are available for short periods such as Christmas. "You still see each light nicely without the bothering effect," Freeman said, describing the diffuser and dimming options.
Councilmembers expressed two concerns: long‑term value and the community’s dark‑sky status. One councilmember said the city must avoid creating permanent light pollution and asked whether the system could be dimmed or turned off at selected times; Freeman confirmed the system can be scheduled and dimmed and offered to provide photo examples and multiple mounting options. The vendor also described two mounting orientations: lights mounted outward for a traditional Christmas‑light look or mounted down to wash the façade (less visible from some approaches but lower potential glare). Freeman said the permanent system can be a higher upfront cost but argued it provides long‑term value versus repeated seasonal installs.
After discussion the council voted to proceed and to add $385 to the project estimate so the contractor could provide the required electrical work (licensed work/contractor fees). The council also approved a design choice for Main Street decorative elements (the transcript records selection of a snowflake design) and instructed staff to coordinate invoicing and scheduling with the vendor. The vendor agreed to send photographs and multiple angle views before installation; the council asked for those materials before mass deployment and to schedule on‑site evening previews to confirm appearance.
Ending: Staff will collect the vendor’s photo examples, confirm final electrical invoices and schedule a demonstration; council directed staff to preserve the ability to dim or schedule the system to limit impacts to Bryce Canyon City’s night sky.
