Council moves forward on wayfinding signage project
by Angie Asam, Staff Writer
The Rogers City council met Tuesday evening and awarded the contract to Fleis and VandenBrink Engineering for $10,400 to do the work on the planning phase of the wayfinding signage project that is associated with the Vibrant Small Cities Initiative Grant (VSCI) the city received last year.
The wayfinding signage project will involve new directional signage throughout the city pointing visitors to public attractions in the city such as parks, the marina, quarry view, harbor view and other attractions. The signage will have a unique logo and be common throughout the town. The council is also looking at how to get visitors off of U.S.-23 and into the downtown through the use of the wayfinding signage project.
Fleis and VandenBrink is also working on the street lighting project. The company met with the Nautical Heritage committee to do the leg work on the projects and will now be moving forward with both of them.
Harry Wearinga of Fleis and VandenBrink was present at Tuesday?s meeting and gave a brief overview of the street lighting project. His company has already gone through the city to identify where new lights would be put in and are moving forward from there. Lights would be installed in most places where street lights already exist and in other places where more light is needed, a complete map can be viewed at city hall. The project is set for along third street.
The city is looking at LED (light-emitting diode) lights, which according to Wearinga are the state of the art and the best approach for the city. Wearinga is hopeful that work will begin on the street lighting project by the end of June. LED lights are state of the art, save on efficiency and are the future for street lights. Some of the products have not even been manufactured as of yet.
That being said Wearinga encouraged the council to think about buying the hardware (lights and poles) they would like to install and then sending out bids for companies to install that hardware. He felt this was the best approach for the city for a variety of reasons.
?It will protect you from companies charging overages for the cost of the hardware, it will save you time in the long run as we can order the hardware before the bid process is complete and you won?t have to worry about a company installing some equivalent light, it will be exactly what you want,? said Wearinga.
He asked council to consider the matter and would be approaching the Community Development Authority (CDA) at their Wednesday morning meeting with the same idea. The lighting project is a joint project between the city and the CDA with the CDA paying for the cost of the project.
IN OTHER CITY COUNCI
? A zoning map change for the property on North First Street between Michigan and Huron Avenues (Beck Funeral Home) to change the property from residential to central business passed for first reading.
? The city delayed a request from the Presque Isle County Advance to advertise in the 2009 Visitors Guide until a budget workshop held on April 20.
? The council approved the use of the pavilion for the Presque Isle Conservation District tree sale April 13-17 and 20-25 as well as the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Post 607 poppy sale on May 9 and the memorial day parade on May 25.
? An amendment to the city?s Health Reimbursement Arrangement (HRA) plan was made that will insure that children are provided health care insurance was approved.