Night Lights Vermilion wants to darken the sky around city; goal is to improve stargazing conditions

VERMILION — There is a lot of valuable real estate that makes the city a gem, city officials and tourists agree. And there is talk among city planners and business owners about how to best market the city's coastline, small town charm and river access to Vermilion's advantage. But a new group is asking the city to consider that there's a whole other plane that is often overlooked — or maybe isn't looked up at enough. The city's dark skies should be as prized as its stunning beach sunsets, Night Lights Vermilion contends, and the fix is simple: A change to lower-temperature bulbs, retrofitted, shielded lighting and warm-colored LED lights. The group includes the Vermilion Rotary Club, Main Street Vermilion, Black River Astronomical Society, a member of the city Parks Board, Parks Supervisor Mark Weisenberger and volunteers. On March 17, the group presented a proposal to the city's Parks and Recreation Board to make Vermilion a "dark sky" destination on the Great Lakes by tackling light pollution in the city. It targets 16 specific lights in four lakefront parks: Sherod Park on the city's west side, Nokomis Park at the end of Minnie Wawa Street, Showse Park on the city's east side, and Main Street Beach downtown. "Dark sky" destinations are certified by organizations such as DarkSky International and earn their designation for restricting light pollution and protecting natural nocturnal environments. They are typically within national parks or reserves. "We all have the same goals in mind," said Karen Viterna, a member of Rotary and one of the organizers of Night Lights Vermilion. "We want to reduce light pollution and our window of time is really slim. If we don't address it now we'll have more work to do to address it later." Along thousands of miles of Great Lakes coastlines, there is only one municipal public access dark sky location — in Beverly Shores, Indiana. If Vermilion were to gain such certification it would be the first dark sky park on Lake Erie in Ohio and boost the city's reputation as an "astro-tourism" spot. Sherod Park already draws visitors who come to watch the skies, Viterna said. "I didn't even know this until I started researching this," she said. "We attract people from Toledo, Columbus and Cleveland to Sherod Park with telescopes to see what they can see. It's in this little sliver of sky there with basically very little light pollution between Sandusky to Lorain and people know about it. When the aurora borealis was going to be available, people told me there were a hundred cars in the parking lot and they had to go find parking places elsewhere. The police confirmed it. They said 'We know and use discretion where they're there to stargaze, we don't kick them out when the park closes at dark when they're stargazing.'" Viterna said the parks board wanted Weisenberger and Viterna to meet with Detective Sgt. Brian Holmes, who will soon be the new Vermilion police chief, to make sure the new lighting would not be a concern for the department, and they also met with Mayor Russ Owens. Light pollution increases 10 percent globally per year, taking away our ability to notice the stars little by little, she said. It affects more than the ambiance, causing navigational problems for drivers, boaters and pilots, and affecting sleep patterns of residents. Lights can wreak havoc on wildlife from throwing off bird migration to drawing bugs and disrupting frog breeding patterns, she said. The group's proposal used photos to show that warm-colored LED lighting could reduce the city's electric consumption and retrofitting some light fixtures would focus on shield lights, reducing blind spots and improving safety for drivers and pedestrians. The change in lighting isn't darker lighting but more natural lighting, Viterna said. Photographs and studies show that lower Kelvin light — dark sky-compliant light bulbs — allow the eye to better see what's in the shadows created by higher intensity lights, Viterna said. Seven lights at Main Street Beach from Huron Street to the lake will be retrofitted by Main Street Vermilion, and bulbs will be replaced in five fixtures at Showse Park. Eight lights at Sherod and Nokomis will receive new bulbs and the flagpole and Main Street, which Viterna voted on when she was a past member of the Parks Board, will be shielded now. "That flagpole was the impetus to this. I voted for this back then. I didn't even think about it. They go straight up, through the clouds really, like Vegas lights," she said. "When I was a kid I used to look up at night at the Milky Way. Now only 20 percent of people can see that," she said. "It was beautiful, spectacular, what we used to be able to see. It was worth checking out." The entire project is expected to cost less than $3,000, Viterna said. Viterna said the city will fund the cost from grant money from the Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council, or NOPEC. The group said this is phase 1 of their plans. The group hopes to eventually expand dark sky lighting, upgrading lighting once the public can see the benefits it can bring, she said. Night Lights Vermilion will have a display at the Vermilion River Watershed Exhibit from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on April 11 at the Vermilion-on-the-Lake Clubhouse, 3780 Edgewater Drive. Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.