Shawano Wis Boondoggle On LED Street Lights

Dad 29 passed this to me about LED street lights in Wauwatosa. Seems the people of Shawano got snookered from their city administrator. Either he doesn't know what he is talking about or he is hiding information from the residents of Shawano. I will highlight in red what the people of Wauwatosa know that Shawano has no clue of. Previous story here 

Darker Tosa streets save money, but generate complaints - WauwatosaNow: 
"Wauwatosa's experiment in turning on streetlights in some neighborhoods for fewer hours has generated complaints from 82 residents in the last eight months, but the money-saving maneuver is deemed necessary - at least in some form - to keep the city within budget.

A discussion of the controversial measure resulted in no action from the Traffic and Safety Committee on Tuesday, but options for moving forward were floated. The issue likely will be back before the panel in two weeks.

The city could expand the program to more neighborhoods, and it could turn the lights on 15 minutes after sunset and 15 minutes before sunrise, rather than a full half hour. The financial savings would be less, but increasing the number of areas participating could balance that out, city staff members said.

Installing LED lights could reduce energy consumption by 30 to 60 percent, but there is a significant upfront charge for retrofitting equipment - payback would take more than 50 years to realize, Porter said."

Fifty years to realize savings? Let's see, that would be 2061. Sorry I don't think I will be around if we get Obama care.


Shawano has a boondoggle on it's hands. The Shawano Administrator must be a democrat. 


People of Shawano, bend over and pay. 


I was questioning myself if I should use the word "boondoggle? Here's the definition from Dictionary.com. I think it fits!


boon·dog·gle   
[boon-dog-uhl, -daw-guhl]
noun, verb, -gled, -gling.
–noun
1.
a product of simple manual skill, as a plaited leather cord for the neck or a knife sheath, made typically by a camper or a scout.
2.
work of little or no value done merely to keep or look busy.
3.
a project funded by the federal government out of political favoritism that is of no real value to the community or the nation.