Coupeville residents can see for themselves what the difference is between two types of LED lights the town is considering installing.

Coupeville Town Council is debating between using LED lights with a 4,000 color correlated temperature or ones with a 3,000 CCT. Most of the town’s street lights will be retrofitted with one of the options as part of a free Puget Sound Energy program.

When discussing the program earlier this year, Councilwoman Pat Powell raised concern about the type of LED lights being used.

“There’s quite a lot of information on the harm of 4,000 CCT to humans,” Powell said at the time. “It’s creating glare. The glare is causing more harm to safety. Greater light is not necessarily better.”

Switching to LED lighting could save the town $3,500 to $6,400 annually, town officials said.

A 3,000 CCT light, which falls into a softer light spectrum and is recommended to be healthier for the night sky and migratory fowl, was installed at the intersection of Broadway Street and Madrona Way.

A 4,000 CCT light, which falls into a blue light spectrum and is considered harmful to migratory fowl, is already installed in front of 605 NW Madrona Way.

Town council members will be checking out the difference between the lights themselves and further discussing which to choose during the regular council meeting 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 27 in the Island County Commissioners hearing room.

“We haven’t gotten any response from the public at Town Hall,” said Mayor Molly Hughes.

Several council members said they knew people who had opinions on the issue and would invite them to the meeting.

Hughes said she’s already checked out both lights and made a point to drive under both. At the meeting she said she noticed some glare under one of the lights.

Council members hope to have the public weigh in before making a decision, which is anticipated that night.