The City of North Battleford had good news at Tuesday’s council meeting.

City Manager Randy Patrick announced Cenovus Energy Inc. is providing a substantial grant to the city for the North Battleford Water Tower’s new decorative light replacement project.

In the new lighting system, the tower will be able to illuminate in a choice of 16 million different colours to commemorate important dates in the calendar, such as orange for Orange Shirt Day, the rainbow colours for Pride Month, pink for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, as well as something festive to mark the Christmas season.

Patrick thanked Cenovus for its support for the project.

“Cenovus has come forward as a major partner,” he said. “They have actually allowed us to be able to afford the more inclusive lights, and still stay within the budget the city is spending. I wanted to thank them for their participation.”

Mayor David Gillan also expressed his appreciation to the company for its grant.

“Thank you to Cenovus for their generous contribution to this project,” he said.

Also during the meeting, city council approved administration’s proposal to purchase the new energy efficient LED rope lighting for the project from Isted Technical Sales of Saskatoon for $197,266. The installation is planned for the spring of 2023.

The city earmarked $200,000 in its 2022 budget for the lights replacement project. The grant received from Cenovus will help offset that cost.

Additional project costs for replacing and installing the lights will be funded with the city’s previously budgeted funds to complete the project.

City director of operations Stewart Schafer said the existing lighting for the tower needed to be replaced, and already exceeded its life expectancy by three years.

He said engineering firm AECOM Canada Ltd. donated its time and resources to design and source a coloured light system for the tower. It developed the design in conjunction with the lighting supplier Isted Technical Sales.

The warranty for the new LED rope lighting from the supplier is five years, with an expected lifetime use estimated at about 11 years.

Schafer noted if council wished to instead tender the purchase of the lights, then the quality, warranty and pricing of the lighting may not be the same as that selected by AECOM. So administration recommended buying the lights from Isted Technical Sales.

Schafer noted with the new generation lighting system, the Water Tower will become “an even more important beacon of inclusion in the community.”

Following council, Mayor Gillan said he is glad to see the city is moving ahead with its plans to replace the lights, adding he especially appreciates the support from Cenovus Energy with its grant to assist with the project cost.

He also thanked AECOM for contributing its time for the project design.

In a news release from the city, Cenovus Energy community and Indigenous affairs director, Trent Zacharias, said Cenovus is committed to supporting the “communities where we live and work.”

“Communities that recognize the diversity of their residents are stronger and more resilient. The enhanced lighting system is an opportunity to help North Battleford continue to find ways to be even more inclusive through awareness campaigns. As an added bonus, the new LED lights are more energy efficient,” he said.

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