Observatory Viewing ended by Relocation of Parking lot Light

[lostbowyer]

On Monday July 10th The Hudson Light and Power company work crews arrived at the Gleasondale Industrial Park to "replace a rotting light post". This post held a flood light that was pointed away from the observatory towards the mill complex. It illuminated the parking lot but did not prevent viewing from the Observatory.
Instead of replacing the pole, they took it down and moved the light to another pole in the lower end of the parking lot and directed the light directly at the observatory. The light highly illuminated the observatory, the robotic dome and our entire view site.
The Power company according to a representative from the mill, told the mill owners they were replacing the pole and brought one with them, they never once asked anyone about the impact changing the direction of the light would have upon the facilities.
8 years of public star nights and special viewing events have come to an end. All public and private night research has been cancelled. The Observatory will still be able to hold solar viewing events but all night activites are impossible.
We have drafted a letter to Hudson Light and Power and will update when and if we get a reply.
The staff of the Rockbottom Observatory would like to thank the Public for their past support and we will begin weighing our options.

Thank You
The Staff of The Rockbottom Observatory

[lostbowyer]

We received a reply from the Hudson Light and Power department. They stated that the light was located on the pole facing up as a temporary safety measure unitl a new permanent location for the light can be found.

They sent a crew out and turned the light so that it no longer shines directly on the observatory and robotic dome. Unfortunately, the entire parking lot back to the dam is still illuminated, and the tree line along the river is lit up and reflecting back, so public viewings are still cancelled.

It was stated in their response, that they would be meeting with the mill owners to discuss a new location for the light, hopefully they will come to a better solution for the light.

It has still not been addressed as to why they just did not put a new pole back where they took the old one out, then there would be no need for discussion, that light pole had been there for 35 years that I personnally know of, we had no problems, or saftey issues all those years.

[lostbowyer]

Here's the latest update:
We received an email from Hudson Light and Power stating that they did not put the new pole back up in the original location because they hit ledge. We won't go into the debate of ledge or no ledge, there was a pole there in the first place.

That evening the new light was turned off, we don't know why. The following night, the light fixture had been removed from the pole and only the two original lights that face toward the mill remained. We have received no word as to whether or not the light was removed permanently. or if a cut off fixture is on the way. We will try to catch up with the mill owners next week to see if we can find out for sure.

In the short term at least, we are able to hold night viewing at the observatory (weather permitting). We would like to thank Hudson Light and Power for their all their efforts and prompt actions to try to resolve this unfortunate issue.

[lostbowyer]

We are now almost 1 year later, and we still have a dark viewing site. There has been no official word as to whether it will always remain that way, but the owners of the mill are not pushing for a replacement light and there have been no indication that the power company is moving to put a replacement light back up.
We want to thank Hudson Light and Power for their help and quick actions last year. They went out of their way to help us out, and to the Mill owners for their co-operation and support.