by Logan Gruber
operations@thenewsleaders.com
The city of St. Joseph will again turn off the lights which light up the water tower for an entire night March 19 in response to a request to turn them off for one hour.
Earth Hour is a campaign to switch off the lights for one designated hour – from 8:30-9:30 p.m. Saturday, March 19, local time – at homes, businesses and government buildings. The campaign began in 2007 in Australia and is now in more than 162 countries.
At the city council meeting Monday night, council members voted on a request by Audrey Birkholz and Bethany Knopp, both of St. Joseph, to turn out the lights for one hour.
“The girls decided they wanted to bring it up to the council,” Wayne Birkholz said.
Birkholz brought the issue to the council’s attention last year.
The council decided the public-works department could again have a staff person turn off the lights during the day of March 19 and turn them back on in the morning of March 20, thus saving the cost of having someone come in for those two hours.
After some discussion, the council voted to approve the request to turn off the lights on the water tower. Council member Renee Symanietz was not present for the vote.
Painting and maintenance took place on the 500,000-gallon water tower in the summer of 2014.
The St. Joseph water tower holds 500,000 gallons of water, and is lit from the ground. On March 19, the city will turn the lights off until the following morning in observance of Earth Hour.
The St. Joseph water tower holds 500,000 gallons of water, and is lit from the ground. On March 19, the city will turn the lights off until the following morning in observance of Earth Hour.
