Penhold council members expressed enthusiasm at the prospect of receiving a proposal from the local seniors group to partner on an LED sign along Highway 2A.
During the roundtable portion of the regularly scheduled council meeting March 25 Mayor Dennis Cooper said the seniors had approached the town to gauge interest in an electronic sign that would help inform the community and raise money for the community group.
“The messages would constantly be changing; it's all run by computer,” Cooper said. “They're looking at putting some advertisement on it for businesses as well, community events and community information.”
Under the plan 30 per cent of sign time would be taken up by town information, 30 per cent by senior messages with the rest being sold to local businesses as a way to generate revenue for the seniors.
“They're looking at a way of making money and also informing the community,” he said. “They're looking at the capital cost of the sign to be borne by them.”
No motion was made by councillors, who indicated they would be happy to receive a formal submission, noting the town's more primitive sign along Highway 2A already has power hooked up.
“They thought that would be the ideal location,” Cooper said. “Would we be interested in considering that?”
When Coun. Chad Hoffman responded, “Absolutely,” other councillors chimed in, nodding and expressing support for the idea.
When the Innisfail Chamber of Commerce installed an LED sign along Highway 2 the organization generated $78,064 of new revenue in 2012, though availability was not completely sold out.
Individual spots on this sign run 288 times per day on a double-sided 13-foot by 23-foot colour screen. Sales are targeted towards businesses looking for a way to attract new clients and visitors.
The chamber's president Doug Bos said back in the fall he hopes gross revenue will reach $100,000 this year.
He had expected the revenue from the sign would be used to maintain a full-time executive director at the chamber.
Cooper said the seniors are not considering something similar to a giant billboard along Highway 2 but hopes a smaller sign would be a new fundraising avenue for the entrepreneurial group.
“They're just preliminarily floating this balloon,” he said, noting more detail would come shortly if council expressed their interest. “I just wanted to give you a heads-up.”
The traffic along Highway 2A would present a unique marketing opportunity, he added.
“They don't just want the sign for themselves,” he said of the seniors' curiosity for a partnership.
Town manager Rick Binnendyk said the town has previously looked at LED sign pricing for the multiplex and found out it was too expensive at the time.
