|
Saugeen Shores councillor Diane Huber is disappointed with the
town's proposed signage for Southampton. An update of the program
was presented Tuesday night (July 28) in committee-of-the-whole.
"My question is related to what's the focus anymore?" she said. "I
went through the documents and there are a lot of unnecessary signs.
I'm stunned at the things that are important enough to put on a
sign."
She objects to the Southampton Market sign because it's a private
business, and the medical clinic because it's not a walk-in clinic.
"If the program is supposed to be tourism-related, there are no
signs for visitor information except in front of the Southampton
Town Hall," she said. "Here, we're being told there are 60 signs for
Southampton; last week, it was 65 signs. I spent a lot of time
looking through this and my challenge is: What is this supposed to
be for?"
Huber noted that one sign directing people to Sauble costs $3,200,
with the total program cost at more than $800,000.
"I'd like to hear from our tourism office to determine how much of
this is needed," she said. "We have more signs for the boat launch
than the museum! All these signs are going to clutter up the street.
Why does the 'obvious' have to be labeled (such as the beach)?"
Mayor Mike Smith said a lot of discussion and public meetings were
held. "If there's money to be spent, it will come back to council
for approval," he said. "We got one of the best consultants in North
America (Corbin Designs). When we go to implement this, we'll
discuss it."
Kara VanMyall, who made the presentation with Jack VanDorp, said the
idea is to pick up on things that happen in the community and are
not being advertised. "We already have good signage for the museum,"
she said. "We want to address other things, such as public washrooms
and beach accesses."
"Signage is a real issue," said councillor Fred Schildroth. "They
look horrible. Doing nothing is not an option. The cost is
substantial. Who is paying for what here?"
Community services director Mike Myatt said there is $75,000 in the
2009 budget for this program. A grant application, through Bruce
County, has been submitted for Community Adjustment Funding (CAF) of
$193,000, and the town has applied for a Rural Economic Development
(RED) grant of $226,000. In addition, there could be another $75,000
for the project, through in-house operations.
Councillor Luke Charbonneau questioned the colours used on the
Southampton signs, given the gateway sign is different to the ones
proposed for the parks and other locations in the village. "We're
trying to brand the community," he said. "Consistency is necessary
in marketing. The Southampton signs are schizophrenic. There's red
lettering on them but no red in the logo (on the gateway sign). I'd
say no to the Southampton signs until we get that issue resolved."
VanMyall agreed, saying council must offer more direction to get
that resolved. Otherwise, it could impact the tender. (next column)
29/07/2009 10:52 PM
 |
Councillor Victoria Serda asked how the public can offer any further
input on particular signs. Smith said they can send any comments or
questions to the community services department.
"I believe we had lots of public meetings on this," said deputy mayor
Doug Freiburger. "This is not the time to send it back to the public or
we'll never get the project done." His request is that when council goes
through the tendering process, that more credibility be given to
companies using Canadian materials and labour - or Ontario or even Bruce
County - to keep the money here.
Huber asked again about the financing of the project. "So, the cost is
$680,000 for signage for the two areas: Port Elgin and Southampton," she
said. "And we have $575,000 in grants and budget. Where's the other
$100,000 coming from?"
"That's the price to implement it," said Smith, "but we haven't made a
decision to do it yet."
Huber maintained her concern about the lack of focus. "We have only one
sign on the list here for the Saugeen Rail Trail," she said. "I'm not
convinced the priorities in this signage strategy reflect our priorities
on spending. The ball is rolling and it's a lot of money."
VanMyall said the rail trail is not finished yet, with loops still being
done. "There will be comprehensive signage for the rail trail once it's
complete," she said. "This signage document will be a living thing, with
changes and additions put into it over the years."
Smith said council must finalize the Southampton signs, and determine
where all the signs are going to be placed, before the project can go to
tender.
During the update, VanMyall said the site verification has been
completed, and tender documents are being prepared. The Kincardine pilot
project for signage is slightly behind Saugeen Shores, she said. The
announcement of the CAF funding is expected by mid-August.
The Port Elgin gateway sign has been approved, but the Southampton
gateway sign is not, she said. The project includes 63 signs in Port
Elgin and 60 in Southampton, concentrating along Highway 21 and the
lakeshore.
 |
for
world news,
books, sports, movies ...
