The Pagosa Springs Dark Sky Steering Committee met Monday, June 15, to go over the pricing and location at which they’re going to mount a sky quality meter (SQM) continuous monitoring device, as well as its plan to tackle the lighting inventory.
The committee also discussed their presentation at this weekend’s Bioblitz event in town along with a new program that the committee is using to help the members work more autonomously.
The meeting started with an announcement of the first town-sponsored night sky event that is happening on Aug. 12. The event will be called the Meteor Shower Watch Night and it will be held from 8:30 p.m. until midnight. More details will be revealed in the coming weeks.
Committee members first discussed the mounting location of their SQM continuous monitoring device along with cost associated with the mounting.
The committee reviewed a quote of $1,437.50 given to it by Echo Consulting.
The SQM continuous monitoring device is set to be mounted on the Pagosa Springs Visitor Center, on the river side of the building near the hot springs.
Labor costs were quoted higher than expected, which was one of the few questions that committee member Dena Laterza brought forth.
A representative from Echo Consulting explained to the committee that the labor costs are high because they are estimated based on two people working the maximum amount of hours.
The labor required is running a cable from the crawl space to the attic of the Visitor Center and setting up the SQM continuous monitoring device. In the original quote, Echo Consultants planned for two people working for five hours each, but the representative at the meeting felt that two to three hours would be more likely.
The quote was approved after Laterza’s motion passed.
The committee also discussed its lighting inventory at the meeting. One of the big aspects of its application to become a certified International Dark Sky Community is an inventory of all outdoor lighting in town.
Committee members agreed that this is a big undertaking and thought through ways to make it easier.
Laterza expressed that a dedicated meeting for the lighting inventory would be necessary to help get it complete.
The committee also suggested using Trello, the new software that the committee has adopted to help make its work as a committee more autonomous.
It was mentioned at the meeting that most dark sky steering committees meet quarterly, and Laterza, along with other committee members, felt that Trello will help them achieve that.
Lastly, the committee discussed its presentation for this weekend’s Bioblitz. The event will be held on Saturday, June 20, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.. The Dark Sky Steering Committee will be presenting from 6 to 6:30 p.m.
jsellner@orourkemediagroup.com
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