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Residents propose holiday street‑pole lights for downtown Hampden; town to contact utilities for approval
Summary
A group of residents offered a multi-phase plan to install holiday lighting on street poles from Mountain View through the town center and up to Thornton Burgess, seeking town permission to use public right-of-way and utility-pole access; Select Board agreed to begin utility outreach and examine storage/installation funding.
A group of Hampden residents on Monday proposed installing decorative holiday lighting on downtown street poles and at the town center, asking the Select Board for permission to use town right-of-way and to coordinate with utility pole owners.
Why it matters: Organizers said the plan would add seasonal decorations to the center of town at no cost to taxpayers if fundraising covers installation and electrical-upgrade costs; the proposal affects public right-of-way, utility attachments and downtown event programming.
Paul Marcelino and other volunteers outlined a phased plan to place LED decorations on poles starting at Mountain View through the center and up toward the Thornton Burgess area. Marcelino said the lights would be powered from pole-mounted 120-volt boxes installed by a licensed electrician and connected to the local utility. He said Spirit of Springfield would donate the string lighting and volunteers would cover relamping, installation and storage costs.
Marcelino described the schedule ambitions and fundraising plans: “we're hoping to do a tree‑lighting potentially the week before Thanksgiving,” he said, and proposed fundraisers including a restaurant night to defray installation charges. Kevin Sacco, a local volunteer, offered to assist with installation coordination.
Town staff and board members said the next steps are for town administration to contact National Grid and the town’s telephone carrier to confirm pole ownership and attachment rules, coordinate required pole surveys and confirm safety/visibility issues with the police department. Brian offered to provide the utilities’ municipal liaison contact and to support the outreach.
No formal vote was recorded; board members expressed support for pursuing the next steps while noting utilities must approve attachments and that the town must examine any ongoing electricity costs. Marcelino said organizers intended to keep the project cost-neutral to the town and to use volunteers and fundraising to cover installation and annual operating costs.
Next steps: The board asked town administration to contact National Grid and the telephone carrier, confirm pole-ownership details and return with a recommended permit/permission process and cost estimate for any ongoing utility usage.
