Group hopes to replace lighting at JJ Jensen

City Councilor Troy Schaben took off his councilor’s hat Tuesday night and stepped behind the microphone to give the council details on an ambitious fund-raising project which aims to replace the lighting at JJ Jensen Park called Summer Nights and Ballpark Lights.
    The project was inspired by a $250,000 matching grant through the Monogram Loves Kids Foundation. Schaben, who works for Monogram, said replacing the lights on the youth ball fields has long been talked about in the community and he thinks replacing the existing lights with Musco LED lights will be a huge improvement.
    “Lighting has been on the parks department ‘wish list’ for more than four years,” he said, adding the high school baseball and softball fields would also get new lighting.
    A 10-person committee is spearheading the fund-raising efforts with the Little League baseball association being the fund-raising arm. All donations should be directed toward their group. The goal is to have work begin in the Fall.
    Schaben said the existing light poles were installed in the 1970s and the current lightbulbs were replaced in the ‘90s. The LED lights will save anywhere between 50-85% of the utility cost, will be able to be turned off wirelessly through an application and come with a 25-year warranty.
    The total cost of the project is $1.25 million.