Growing up, just about every family had at least one parent that would repeatedly have to remind the children of the household to turn off lights when they leave a room.

As those young people grow up, most of them remember that lesson, especially when they start a family of their own and those children repeat the cycle.

While a seemingly simple thing like leaving lights on may not appear to be a major waste, it is. That fact is compounded when the lights at a public park’s baseball field are left on. These lights consist of large groups of very powerful bulbs.

City employees do their best to keep access to the lights controlled so they aren’t left on, but just like with anything else, if someone really wants to do something they will find a way around any established barriers.

Councilor Wayne Gouguet even remarked how one perpetrator wanted to use the field lights so badly they took a grinder to one of the control panels to gain access.

Depending on the home and usage, electricity bills can be one of the most expensive monthly bills we have at our own homes. So it shouldn’t be too much of a stretch to consider what the light bill for a municipality would be.

Also consider that unlike our homes, there are multiple locations to consider. From the police department, fire department, public works barn and even City Hall, they all run on electricity. And that doesn’t take into consideration the electricity used at the park.

Due to the problems city employees had with the field lights being left on, a new system was installed to attempt to curb the problem. It allows city employees to receive smart phone notifications when the lights are left on, and allows them to remotely turn them off.

This was a smart purchase by the city. Now if we could only find something similar for our homes.