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More Community Corner Plainville residents paying to keep streetlights on
In Plainville, where close to two-thirds of streetlights were shut off in June as a cost-saving measure, some residents are paying out of their own pockets to turn the lights back on.
As of early November, about 15 people had agreed to sponsor a streetlight, at a cost of roughly $96 a year (depending on the light’s brightness), according to Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes.
Board of Selectmen Chair Andrea Soucy, who is sponsoring a streetlight herself, proposed the idea in late August, as the days grew shorter and residents became more aware of the lights’ absence.
Fernandes said Plainville has reduced the amount it spends on streetlights from about $90,000 to $50,000, enough to avoid the elimination of a municipal position. (A total of four full- or part-time positions were cut in the fiscal 2010 budget, he said.)
More than 400 of the town’s 650 streetlights were turned off. Those that remain on, Fernandes said, are at full intersections or on stretches of road that are regarded as dangerous.
Residents who are sponsoring streetlights are for the most part paying for lighting on their own street, though Fernandes said that he heard recently from a Plainville resident who is interested in sponsoring as many as five streetlights around town.
That, he said, could enable the town to turn streetlights back on in places where they would be most valuable, such as at school bus stops that would otherwise be dark on early winter mornings.
“I’ve argued that when we look at this we have to come to an understanding of what streetlights are for,” Fernandes said. “In my view, streetlights are for the motoring public, not to light up somebody’s yard.”
More Community Corner Plainville residents paying to keep streetlights on
Plainville residents paying to keep streetlights on
In Plainville, where close to two-thirds of streetlights were shut off in June as a cost-saving measure, some residents are paying out of their own pockets to turn the lights back on.
As of early November, about 15 people had agreed to sponsor a streetlight, at a cost of roughly $96 a year (depending on the light’s brightness), according to Town Administrator Joseph Fernandes.
Board of Selectmen Chair Andrea Soucy, who is sponsoring a streetlight herself, proposed the idea in late August, as the days grew shorter and residents became more aware of the lights’ absence.
Fernandes said Plainville has reduced the amount it spends on streetlights from about $90,000 to $50,000, enough to avoid the elimination of a municipal position. (A total of four full- or part-time positions were cut in the fiscal 2010 budget, he said.)
More than 400 of the town’s 650 streetlights were turned off. Those that remain on, Fernandes said, are at full intersections or on stretches of road that are regarded as dangerous.
Residents who are sponsoring streetlights are for the most part paying for lighting on their own street, though Fernandes said that he heard recently from a Plainville resident who is interested in sponsoring as many as five streetlights around town.
That, he said, could enable the town to turn streetlights back on in places where they would be most valuable, such as at school bus stops that would otherwise be dark on early winter mornings.
“I’ve argued that when we look at this we have to come to an understanding of what streetlights are for,” Fernandes said. “In my view, streetlights are for the motoring public, not to light up somebody’s yard.”
Written by MMA Associate Editor Mitch Evich
