Kincardine signage program sent back to committee
By Liz Dadson
 

Kincardine Council

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The Kincardine Community, Heritage, Arts and Tourism (CHAT) committee will take another stab at developing a municipal signage program for the municipality.

Wednesday night (Aug. 12), mayor Larry Kraemer brought forward a motion for council to adopt the signage program as presented July 8, exempting the three Bruce Township historical signs from those that must be removed.

However, that did not sit well with the majority of council, so the program has been sent back to committee for further discussion with a recommendation to council at a future meeting.

"I have no problem with the historic signs," said councillor Guy Anderson. "My problem is the reason for keeping those (Bruce Township) signs. They should be removed and housed in a museum. How long are we going to keep them up? In 100 years, are we still going to have them? There doesn't seem to be an end to it."

Councillor Ron Hewitt wants to get rid of the "Historic Kincardine" signs in favour of new signs for the former Town of Kincardine. "That's what we were going to start with - entrance signs for the Town of Kincardine and the Village of Tiverton," he said. "I don't support this motion as it stands."

Deputy mayor Laura Haight agreed, saying the consultants on the signage program promoted consistency for all the signs in the municipality. "If you want to keep the Bruce Township signs, wouldn't you want them the same format as the other signs? Is the issue the signs or the location of the signs? The gateway signs were Phase 1 of the program. Later, we'll get new signs for Glammis Bervie, etc. But it should go back to the committee (CHAT) that was looking at it, for the best way to handle this."

"I understand the intent of the motion," said councillor Kenneth Craig, "but I'm not sure of all the other signs to be removed. I agree we should refer it to committee or table it until the committee brings back more specific information."

"If we go this route, we're talking about just three signs here," said councillor Randy Roppel. "They have a right to be there; they're historical signs. They won't take away from the signage program. Most of the signs are going to be in the Town of Kincardine anyway because it's the largest urban area in the municipality."

He said the agreement at amalgamation, between the rural areas and the Town of Kincardine, included two issues: the name of the municipality; and that all signs that give notification of any hamlets or towns would remain and the Municipality of Kincardine would keep them in good condition. "That's what the people are asking for," he said.

Haight said there is no problem maintaining the signs but they should be consistent with the new signage program. "We have the old sandblasted signs on Kincardine Avenue and by the Governor's Inn that should be removed," she said. "I was in Grand Bend and Forest recently and their entrance signs say they are part of Lambton Shores, as a way to get consistency. So, what is the concern? Is it keeping the signs or maintaining these particular signs?"

"I guess it's not a good idea to have a vote on this motion if we don't know where we're at with this whole issue," said Kraemer.

Hewitt suggested referring it to committee but noting that the Bruce Township signs are exempt. "It's a vague report anyway," he said, "with nothing about the specific signs. There's a lot of work still to be done if the municipality is going ahead with this."

Kraemer reminded council that the program is to be spread over four or five years, with the initial portion being gateway signs for Kincardine and Tiverton.

"But if we get a change in government, and that is quite likely, we have no guarantee that future councils will continue with this program," said Roppel. "It was spread over four to five years due to the cost ($400,000). There's no guarantee that future councils will recognize the other hamlets in the municipality."

"We can't pick and choose which signs are going to stay and which will go," said Craig. "We should let the committee deal with the specifics."

"Council has yet to see the full signage program," said Roppel. "The first phase is for the entrance signs for the urban areas. The Tiverton signs were redone and will be lit. The Town of Kincardine is where the money will be spent on signs. And we'll get rid of the Historic Kincardine signs. The rest of the program will come to council later."

Council voted in favour of sending the issue back to the CHAT committee.
 

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13/08/2009 08:44 PM