Are we still fumbling blindly in the dark three and a half months later beyond the year the person reported? Why hasn't this been updated?

After numerous phone calls and e-mails the DPW felt like it has made progress with NStar on getting someone to examine the transformers to confirm if the problem is a corroded connection that NStar is required to fix. If the problem is not a corroded connection then the problem is in the underground cable. Many of the cables were direct buried and would require expensive replacement so the DPW wants to confirm the scope of work required so competitive bids can be requested to perform this work. Without NStar confirming the problem is not at their transformers the Town would engage blindly into costly repairs which is not far to taxpayers. Despite confirmation on September 10, 2014 of NStar intent to examine the transformers no further communication has been received and phone calls and e-mails have gone unanswered. At this point if residents would like to leave a voice-mail requesting NStar examine the transformers as requested by the Stoneham DPW they can contact Andrew Winters at 617-369-5535. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Similar to the Town’s responsibility to provide services to the customer’s property, NStar must ensure they are supplying electricity to the Town right of way. Our electrical contractor has determined there is no power at the base of this, and many other, lightpole bases. The Department has been requesting an inspection of the padmount transformers (large green boxes) that provide electricity to these lights. In the past, especially with overhead wires, a corroded connection has been the problem. A corroded connection at the point where electricity is fed to the Town is the responsibility of NStar. It would be a disservice to the residents of the Town to order underground repairs in the tens of thousands of dollars without knowing 100% that the problem isn’t the responsibility of NStar to fix.

Residents in the Skyewood, Dapper Darby, Laurie area have be seeing their street lights back in service after NStar ran the necessary underground wire and recently activated it. The Department will continue to press for a proper investigation of this street light as well as the ones on Fieldstone, Citation, Mayflower and other areas who have been patiently waiting.

Thank you for the update. I just called the phone # left in the previous post and left a VM message. I stated I will continue to do so and encourage others to as well. Can we deny any future grants of location until items like this are resolved?

Will submit question to Town Counsel.

I too have called and left messages...to no avail.. pay lots of taxes and someone is dropping the ball AGAIN!

It is now October 31, 2014...Halloween Night....I originally reported this last April and have continued to attempt to rectify this issue...I have called and left messages with NStar and have not heard from anyone! The streets originally indicated ...Fieldstone Drive and Citation Avenue were in complete darkness this evening ..this was an extremely dangerous situation with children and families walking to celebrate Halloween...Tomorrow will be November 1st...the cold and snow will be upon us soon....now I am sure this problem will be put off until spring....this area is an accident waiting to happen and it is sad to think that only then will something be done! I would like an answer and a resolution to this problem...

Sounds like it is time for a lawsuit

As you may be aware the Department of Public Works has been dealing with outages in the Citation Ave area and was attempting to have NStar rectify the situation since April of 2014. Instead of ordering repairs, the Department fought for the residents by making repeated phone calls, sending numerous e-mails and holding a few meetings. In the end persistence paid off and NStar made their repairs.

The lights in the Citation Ave area are now operational again at NO COST to the Town. If the Department ordered the repairs (conduit, cable, and asphalt repairs) the cost would have been roughly $45,000 and the lights wouldn’t have been operational as the problem was not the cable or the light fixtures but with NStar.

Corrective action is still being pursued in other areas such as Fieldstone Drive and Pebble Place.

I would like someone to drive over to Citation Ave to see that the street lights are STILL NOT OPERATIONAL. NSTAR HAS NOT RESOLVED THE PROBLEM AND FIELDSTONE IS ALSO STILL IN THE DARK! I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW IF THIS WILL EVER BE RESOLVED AND IF SO....WHEN? Again it is a safety and security issue for the neighborhood.

The Town has observed the first streetlight out on Citation Ave and the previously reported streetlights on Fieldstone are still out.

As previously stated in issue ID 1286681:

As you may be aware the Department of Public Works has been dealing with outages in the Citation Ave area and was attempting to have NStar rectify the situation since April of 2014. Instead of ordering repairs, the Department fought for the residents by making repeated phone calls, sending numerous e-mails and holding a few meetings. In the end persistence paid off and NStar made their repairs.

The lights in the Citation Ave area are now operational again at NO COST to the Town. If the Department ordered the repairs (conduit, cable, and asphalt repairs) the cost would have been roughly $45,000 and the lights wouldn’t have been operational as the problem was not the cable or the light fixtures but with NStar.

Corrective action is still being pursued in other areas such as Fieldstone Drive and Pebble Place.

I did see the info stated on ID 1286681, however, it does state that the lights on Citation are operational when they are not.

Hi Janet - I apologize for the confusion and for the length of time it has taken to correct this problem. I have followed this post and I understand the DPW is as frustrated as you with NSTAR's lack of response. However, considering the length of time this particular issue has taken to resolve I have reached out to the DPW Director, Bob Grover, to ask he personally take control of following this through to completion. Bob will provide a weekly update until we get your lights on again. Thank you for your patience. Getting all of our lights on are very important not only for public safety but also for economics. The town actually pays $200 per light, per month whether the lights are on or not. Please continue to report broken lights. Thanks again for your understanding - Ann Marie O'Neill, BOS

The Department of Public Works shares your frustration and continues to pursue actions to correct this situation. It appears the reference to “corrective action is still being pursued in other areas such as Fieldstone Drive” was misinterpreted to mean the Town believe all the lights on Citation were fixed. I apologize for that confusion. Observations were made in the area February 25, 2015 to confirm the lights were fixed. It was noted that Fieldstone lights in the area of #28 / Citation intersection and in front of 5 Citation were still not operational. The SeeClickFix ticket was left open due to the ticket requesting repairs on Fieldstone AND Citation NOT being fulfilled and instead an update with the good news that a large amount of lights were fixed saving the Town $45,000 was posted. Actions continue to be taken to resolve this issue.

In the future more detail will be provided by Public Works Director Grover in an effort to avoid miscommunication.

The Town of Stoneham has 1,551 Various Street Lights that are not separately metered. It would be expensive for NStar (now Eversource) to install and maintain separate meters throughout Town. As a result the Town pays a different rate than Residents and has the bills based on predetermined monthly operating hours based on the changing amount of daylight.

Let me take a moment to correct some misinformation that has been posted. The Town does NOT pay $200 per light per month. Based on the number of lights the cost would be $3,722,400 which is not accurate.

Bills are based on the following information:

The monthly billing hours range from a low in June (251 hours) to a high in December (447 hours) which total roughly 4,175 hours.

Inventory of streetlight equipment grouped based on the different lumen and lamp type. Each lamp type and lumen rating has a different wattage which generates the anticipated annual kWh.

The annual kWh is divided by the year total of 4,175 hours and that number is applied against the monthly billable hours. This is why the bills in December are higher than June.

Based on the above information and the total bills for 2014 the following general information can be calculated.

2014 NStar Total Bills $27,582.10 / 1,551 lights = $17.78 per light per year / 12 months = $1.48 per month per light*

*As noted above the actual cost per light is based on the different lumen and lamp type and this figure should only be used to get a broad understanding of the street light cost.

2014 Electrical Cost (Transcanada) $48,413.22 / 1,551 lights = $31.21 per light per year / 12 months = $2.60 per month per light

2014 Town Maintenance Contract (Includes Traffic Signal work) $20,884.54 / 1,551 lights = $13.47 per light per year / 12 months = $1.12 per month per light

Total cost to light and maintain each street light is approximately $5.20 per month or $62.40 per year.

As you can see from above there is very little incentive for the NStar to spend the money, approximately $250 per transformer connection, to send a crew to open up the transformers and make the necessary repairs. It should be noted that lights on Citation / Fieldstone that have not been operational for over 1 year were NOT billable and the Town DID NOT pay for them to be out. Every month if a light has problem that will not be resolved prior to the next month’s bill (short term fix) the Town will notify NStar (now Eversource) that a long term fix is required and to remove the street lights from the bills.

Underground feed problems remain. Will review against other areas to allocate limited funding.

New maintenance contract bids due Thursday. Will have updated pricing to gauge amount of work that can be prepared.

Thank you for your response and I do appreciate being informed. Please keep me up to date as new information is available. Also, thank you for clarifying many issues.

It now has been well over a year and the issue has not been resolved. We are still in the dark on citation and fieldstone.
I have never gotten an update nor has anyone followed this up.

Eversource has notified the Town they have completed their transformer connection and the light should be operational at this time.