Harrison’s willow trees will be lighting back up after a year in the dark.
During council Monday (March 4), Harrison council members voted to spend $3,850 to redo the lights on the beachfront willow trees. The lights had been taken down in February of last year because of electrical issues that made it difficult to fix broken lights.
“The new safety measures that were implemented required that each strand have an integral fuse, which were causing significant maintenance issues, likely due to moisture,” Troy Davis, infrastructure manager for the village said during council.
“Let’s say there was 15 strands in a row, all connected together,” he continued. “If one of them fails, they all go out. So then it’s like the old lights you remember as kids — you have to go through and test each strand.”
The upgrades approved by council will not completely solve the issues with the fuses, Davis noted, but they will make it easier for staff to identify which strands are impacted.
The upgrades will see the power supply cord extended so it is a minimum of five feet above the ground. The staff will also install a splitter so each branch will be connected individually to a common power connection, rather than all branches being connected to each other.
“It would be one strand per branch, so at least you’ll know (the broken fuses) is one on that branch,” Davis said. “Instead of having to go through the whole tree, you’ll just have to go through the one branch.”
These upgrades will cost around $150 for each of the village’s 15 trees, and see the trunks, as well as three to five branches, lit on each. There will also be a $1,600 cost for a lift rental, and staff are expected to spend between 150 to 180 hours restringing the lights.
In general, the lights on the willow trees are replaced every three to five years. Since these lights were replaced only 14 months before they were taken down, they should be good until 2022.
The cost for replacement lights will be around $4,000.
The beachfront willow lights are entirely separate from the Lights by the Lake displays, and are on throughout the year.
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Council members all voted in favour of the upgrades to the tree lights, as it is an important part of the beachfront area.
“It’s essential we keep these lights on the trees,” councillor Ray Hooper said during council. “I go down there at 10 at night, and people are still sitting under the willow trees.
“It just keeps people in the village longer. And hopefully the longer they’re here, the more money they spend.”
Councillor Samantha Piper agreed.
“There’s also a public safety aspect as well,” she said. “I too think it’s very, very important. And just showcases what people are doing under the trees.”
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
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