Correspondent
GROTON — Selectmen praised the work of Chief of Police Donald Palma for going “above and beyond” what had been asked of him, after the board wondered about saving money by turning off unneeded streetlights.
Palma worked with the Groton Electric Light Department (GELD) and took weeks to check out every utility pole in town to find out the exact status of each. With his report made at the April 7 meeting, the chief noted that there were a total of 719 streetlights in town of which 187 were paid for by either residents or local businesses; 106 had been adopted and paid for by residents; and 45-50 had already been removed in the past or were not currently working.
Of the total, Palma determined that 199 streetlights still operating in town were candidates for being turned off. If the town chose to turn them all off, it could potentially save as much as $16,000 a year.
Congratulating the chief on a job well done, selectmen asked Palma to post the list to give the public a chance to consider the turn-offs and have an opportunity to offer opinions or if they would like to adopt a light in their neighborhoods.
