NEW CASTLE — A woman called RTV6 after she saw her neighbor taking care of city property and wanted to thank him for his work, while also drawing attention to the issue.
A silent good Samaritan you could call Darryl Pelletier.
"Well, I'm not known, but I'm known as a person that takes care of this area you could say," Pelletier said. "They ask me if I'm doing this for free or if I'm getting paid. Or do you want something to drink? Or they want to take a picture of me."
A neighborhood celebrity. The man who trims the bushes, cuts the grass and keeps the median in the intersection of 25th Street and State Street in New Castle clean.
He has done all of this for six years with no pay.
"They ask me why I do it because this is the town's job they say. But I say if you're a good neighbor, just do what you gotta do," Pelletier said.
"I think it's a good thing that he keeps it down because nobody else has been doing it," Vanessa Slabey, who lives in the same neighborhood as Pelletier, said.
Neighbors say sometimes the bushes would grow so high that it would obstruct the view for drivers.
"I've seen two accidents happen, and then I've seen several that almost happened," Slabey said.
RTV6 called the city, and they said they weren't even aware this was an issue because he had been keeping it up for so long. The city made their way to the neighborhood on Monday and said they're going to take out the hedge so it won't become a traffic hazard. The city also said they will maintain this area from now on.
The area also had a damaged yield sign that was previously bent sideways, but on Monday the city replaced it with a new one.
To make a formal complaint about any issue with streets, sanitation or parks, call the City of New Castle.
