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The Good News

2016 October/November

Pg 5 - The Sunshine Express

LED Streetlight Defect to be Corrected

September 26, 2016: After having installed new

LED street lights, the towns of Nucla, Naturita,

Norwood and Rico will soon have to see all of

them replaced.

SMPA, CoBank Seek Proposals for Grant

Funding of Local Economic Development

September 29, 2016: San Miguel Power Associa-

tion Inc., in conjunction with its national coopera-

tive partner, CoBank, is again seeking proposals for

funding opportunities that stimulate and enhance

our local economies. In order to financially sup-

port projects, programs and organizations that are

actively working to improve the financial stability of

local businesses, expand entrepreneurial opportuni-

ties and bring revenue to our towns and counties,

SMPA will be awarding matching grants to selected

“Very Exciting News”

Good News To Residents

As part of an effort

to save money and

improve the quality

of street lighting in

November of 2015,

the towns elected to

have their old, high-

intensity discharge

street lamps re-

placed with LEDs by

San Miguel Power

Association (SMPA).

The towns utilized a

high-intensity dis-

charge replacement

program offered by

SMPA to facilitate

the installations.

Not long after the

new lights were

installed, residents

began to notice

that certain units

were not function-

ing properly. SMPA

replaced these

fixtures with extras

that it had in stock.

“With installations

of this scale, it’s not

unusual to see one

or two bad fixtures,”

said Paul Hora, Key

Accounts Execu-

tive for SMPA. “...

but as complaints

kept coming in, we

started to suspect

that something else

might be going on.”

In fact, the fail-

ing lights were the

result of a manu-

facturing defect

that occurred in the

products sold to the

towns at the time.

According to the manufacturer, Excellence

Opto-electronic Inc. (EOI), a solder point was

not properly joined, causing it to loosen after

a short period of use. The effect was that of a

strobe in the illumination.

“EOI is a very reputable company and they are

taking responsibility for the defect,” said Hora.

“There were 185 lights in this series deployed

on minor streets and other areas within the

four towns. They are all under warranty and

they will all be replaced.”

The timeframe of the replacement has not yet

been fully determined, but Hora says that it

will likely follow a phased approach, with any

failing lights receiving top priority, followed by

older installations and then later ones. In the

interim, it is possible that certain lights may be

disabled until their replacements arrive.

The replacement lights will have a slightly

warmer color (3000 Kelvin) than their coun-

terparts (4000 Kelvin), which will be good

news to residents who had expressed concerns

about the color.

“It’s not the perfect rollout we had hoped for,”

said Hora “but I don’t think it takes anything

away from the movement to switch to LED.”

For evidence, Hora points to the town of Ouray,

which switched to all LED street lighting back

in 2009 and has been saving money ever

since.

“Ultimately, I think the towns will find that this

is just a bump in the road toward inexpensive,

safe and reliable street lighting.”

San Miguel Power Association, Inc. is a mem-

ber-owned, locally-controlled rural electric

cooperative with offices in Nucla and Ridgway,

Colo. It is the mission of San Miguel Power

Association to demonstrate corporate respon-

sibility and community service while providing

our members safe, reliable, cost effective and

environmentally responsible electrical service.

SMPA serves approximately 9,600 members

and 13,300 meters and supports local commu-

nities with $300,000 annually in property taxes

and $400,000 in energy efficiency and renew-

able energy rebates. SMPA is an equal oppor-

tunity provider and employer.

(source: SMPA)

applicants.

Member organizations and businesses may ap-

ply for up to $10,000 in $1,000 increments of

dollar-for-dollar matching funds depending on

the costs of their initiatives. Initiatives may

vary in size and scope but should aim to benefit

the entire business community of a region, not

just individual businesses.

The following definition of economic develop-

ment will be used by SMPA Board of directors for

evaluation of all proposals:

Economic development is the development of

economic wealth of regions or communities

for the well-being of their inhabitants. From

a policy perspective, economic development

can be defined as efforts that seek to improve

the economic well-being and quality of life for

a community by creating and/or retaining jobs

and supporting or growing incomes and the tax

base.

Interested parties should complete the applica-

tion available at www.smpa.com

Supporting documentation such as cover letters,

proposal text or action plans may be appended.

Qualifying projects should:

Stimulate job creation in our area

Promote economic growth

Create/improve local commerce

Maintain/strengthen existing businesses

Enhance regional prosperity

Offer sustainable progress; set the

stage for economic development in the long run

Build collaboration

Show of our communities attributes

Demonstrate ability to leverage funds

Deadline for applications will be October 31,

2016 please mail or drop off your applications to

a San Miguel Power Office in either in Nucla or

Ridgway or mail to:

San Miguel Power, C/O Paul Hora, PO Box 1150,

Ridgway, CO 81432

Promoting Economic Growth

Town of Palisade purchases site of planned

Cameo Shooting and Education Complex,

major step toward making world-class

range a reality

9/27/2016, PALISADE, CO: After a lengthy nego-

tiation process, the Town of Palisade, Xcel Energy

and Snowcap Coal Company closed on the real

estate transaction Monday afternoon, officially

transferring ownership of the properties at Cameo

to the Town of Palisade.

The purchase brings the Cameo Shooting and Edu-

cation Complex a significant step closer to reality.

Made possible with a $2 million grant from the

Colorado Department of Local Affairs and an ad-

ditional $2 million committed by Colorado Parks

and Wildlife, the purchase clears the way for the

agency to begin designing and constructing what

the many partners involved in the project envi-

sion will be a world-class shooting and education

complex in Western Colorado.

“We have all been working very hard to get to

this point, and it has finally happened,” said Town

of Palisade Administrator Rich Sales. “This was a

unique transaction with a variety of considerations

that led to a long, involved negotiation process,

but by working closely with our many partners, we

got it done. Now, we are looking forward to the

groundbreaking, then design and construction.”

“Xcel Energy is very proud to be a part of this

effort,” said Kelly Flenniken, area manager for

community and local government affairs for Xcel

Energy. “The location will provide for a convenient,

safe, sport shooting and education complex. Ad-

ditionally, we know this project will aid in the com-

munity’s economic development efforts and we are

thrilled to be a part of that as well.”

“It’s good to see that the property will be put to

very good use,” said Greg Shurbet of Snowcap

Coal Company. “We are just as excited as every-

one else in the area to see a safe shooting facility

of this magnitude come to the West Slope, and

glad to be a part of it.”

Through an inter-governmental agreement, the

Town of Palisade will lease the land to CPW. Work-

ing with a variety of experts, both local and from

across the country, agency officials will design and

build what will eventually be a one-of-a-kind facil-

ity in this part of the country.

Sales adds that Mesa County is currently working

closely with the design team to ensure the com-

plex meets county standards.

“This is very exciting news,” said JT Romatzke,

area wildlife manager for CPW in Grand Junction.

“Once it has been completed, the complex will

not only be a place to safely shoot rifles, pistols,

archery and shotguns, it will be a place where kids

can learn about the safe use of firearms, law en-

forcement can train, and it will be a place people

from all over the country and world can participate

in organized shooting competition.”

Romatzke adds that although the completed range

is years away, the purchase of the properties

clears the way for the construction of temporary

shooting stations for locals to site in their rifles

and shoot their pistols.

“It will take several years to before we see the

full potential of what this complex can be, but in

the meantime, we will work to provide a place for

shooters to practice and sight-in their firearms,”

he said.

“The public can expect to see things happening

very soon, but until further notice, there is no

shooting or hunting allowed in the area until is

safe to do so. We ask for everyone’s patience and

cooperation.”

According to a recent National Shooting Sports

Foundation’s report, hunting and target shoot-

ing contribute $110 billion to the United States

economy.

(source: cpw.state.co.us)