Patriots-Giants Game On Despite Foxboro Power Issues
FOXBORO (CBS) - Game on at Gillette Stadium after Foxboro town officials considered canceling or postponing the pre-season match against the New York Giants at 7:30 Thursday night.
They were concerned that power outages, and lack of working street lights would pose a safety hazard.
After a meeting with National Grid representatives, though, they say the situation has improved significantly. "We hope most of the traffic lights are going to be on. We have extra police on," says Board of Selectmen Chairman Larry Harrington.
WBZ-TV's Christina Hager reports
A National Grid spokesman assured selectmen that the game would not hamper his crews' work to restore power in other parts of town. "I would say most of the town will be back up and running by tomorrow. I hope I'm not a liar when I say that," says Tom Coughlin.
The board voted unanimously to allow the game to go as scheduled.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Bernice Corpuz reports
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"I'm glad I'm not making that decision," says resident Tony Campagnone, who's power was restored moments after the vote. "That would have been a tough call."
After the meeting, the team's VP of Finance Jim Nolan lashed out against claims by town residents that the team had gotten preferential treatment. "We feel bad about that perception of favoritism and it really kind of offends us a little bit because we've done nothing wrong here."
Years ago, the team made a deal to draw power from nearby Wrentham in emergencies like this.
The team has donated two generators to help light up Route One, where traffic lights are now back up and running.
