Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Parks Lighting topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Decorah council approves athletic field lighting project; council discusses timers and dark‑sky safeguards
Summary
Council unanimously approved plans and contract for lighting of the city athletic complex (pickleball courts and two ball diamonds). Council and staff emphasized programmable timers, administrative controls and sensitivity to dark‑sky goals.
Decorah — The City Council unanimously approved plans and the proposed contract for lighting at the Decorah athletic complex, a project that will add lighting for eight pickleball courts and two ball diamonds and includes system programming to limit hours and provide administrative control.
At the public hearing staff said the city received two bids and described the lowest responsive bidder, Qualite Sports Lighting LLC, as substantially below the engineer’s estimate. (The bid figures in the meeting transcript were garbled; staff characterized the low bid as materially under the estimate.) Councilmembers pressed for programmable timers and limits to avoid unnecessary overnight illumination; staff and the Parks & Recreation board said the lights will be electrically programmable so timers and administrative user restrictions can be applied.
Councilmember comments and funding: Members noted the project is being funded with a combination of hotel‑motel tax revenue, proceeds from a land sale and private fundraising; councilmembers emphasized the project does not rely on property‑tax funds. Park board and fundraising leaders reported about $1.6 million raised to date toward the overall athletic complex buildout and ancillary private fundraising efforts.
Night‑sky concerns: At least one councilmember asked for protections aligned with the city’s sustainability goals (minimizing skyglow and limiting hours), noting that ball‑field lights should be on only when the fields are in use and that pickleball timers could be set to prevent early‑morning or late‑night operation.
What council did (action): Motion to approve proposed plans, specifications and contract for the athletic field lighting project (mover: councilmember; second: councilmember). Vote: unanimous.
Next steps: Staff will finalize contract execution with the approved bidder and coordinate programming/controls with the Parks & Recreation department to implement agreed time windows and user access controls, and to ensure controls meet the city’s dark‑sky preferences.
Meeting provenance: The matter was introduced at the public hearing for item 11 and the actionable resolution under item 12 in the June council meeting packet.
