ORANGE BEACH, Ala. – Orange Beach will spend about $60,000 buying new Christmas decorations for display along city streets.

Two options were presented on Sept. 18, one for $60,500 for incandescent lights or $59,125 for LED lights. Option one buys the city about 60 more decorations.   

“We looked at LED vs. incandescent and incandescent is roughly 55 percent of the cost, give or take of LED,” Mayor Tony Kennon said.

Even though the LED lights have longer life span, Kennon said, the decorations they are placed in would wear out long before the lights.

“The lights can last forever,” he said. “Unfortunately, the rest of the fixture does not. The cost to refurbish the fixtures is almost as much to buy brand new ones. It makes no sense to buy LED and spend almost twice the price because the structures themselves will wear out in about 10 years.

“In calculating the best deal, the incandescents offer us the best bang for the buck.”

Kennon said the current lights, frames, wiring and tinsel lasted about 10 years “and that is really a stretch.”

With the incandescent fixtures, more of the city roadways can sport decorations.

“Option one gives you more decorations to cover new decorations on poles all the way down 161, all the way down each side of the highway in both directions with the sheer quantity of 200 pole decorations, City Administrator Ken Grimes,” said. “We get 200 instead of about 140.”

Unfortunately, Kennon said, the time frame won’t allow the city receive all the decorations for this season, but to take advantage of the current prices the city will buy more and use them next year.

“But we’re probably would not get them all up this year because of the time it would take to get the brackets up and repair electrical, I don’t know we can get it all done,” he said “We’re going to work to get as many done as we possibly can and then next year we hope to have it ready. By buying this year on the locked in price, which we understand is going up.”