I found the problem: there is another dashboard available called dashboard-evi that shows the same description page, same available nodes, basically same everything as node-red-dashboard except version is 1.0.2 and the node-red-dashboard is version 3.1.2. Once deployed, the -evi looked exactly as it should be except for the non-functioning ui-led.
I deleted everything, got the correct dashboard installed and now the leds are functioning.
But in the process of getting this going, I did something else.
I tried to use the project mode to be able to switch between different setups, but it's not working properly.
I started with project name BinsLevel101, which was originally created with the incorrect dashboard.
I created a new project, called Bins_102. I tried to use that project to use the proper dashboard. When I go to change the settings>dependancies, I get an error in Node-Red saying that my current project is Bins_102 but my node red web interface shows BinsLevel101 and it won't change my dependancies.