Peabody donates used street lights to Newburyport

PEABODY – Thanks to a courteous donation by the city of Peabody, the streets of downtown Newburyport will surely shine brighter during these dark winter nights.The northeast coastal city was the lucky recipient of Peabody’s old lampheads, made available after completion of a major downtown lighting upgrade. A total of 43 lampheads were replaced with new, more effective ones earlier this fall.Newburyport Mayor John F. Moak heard of the project and wrote a letter to Blair Haney, assistant director of Planning, inquiring about the streetlights that were soon to be disposed of.”As it so happens, these fixtures are the same type we use in Newburyport,” he wrote. “I would be very interested in obtaining them for our use.”Haney explained to the Council that after consulting with two metal recycling companies, it was determined that the value of the lights is negated by the cost to disassemble the lampheads, remove and dispose of the bulbs and their casings, separate the metals, and transport them to a plant. Instead, Mayor Michael Bonfanti said he would rather donate the lampheads to Newburyport.”This intergovernmental transfer?will foster goodwill with Newburyport by helping them with their efforts to maintain a vibrant downtown,” wrote Haney. “It is a rare opportunity to help another community at no cost to the donating community.”Peabody City Councilors unanimously supported the request.