After searching for a better way to share information with the town, Bowden council has approved a new community events sign board for the downtown area.
Council passed a motion at its Sept. 9 meeting to purchase a two-sided, lighted sign board that will advertise community events and will stand on 20 Avenue near the Bowden post office.
Coun. Patrick Doll, who spearheaded the effort to have a community sign installed in the town, said in an email that council has sought a “more effective way of communicating” with Bowden residents beyond the town's monthly newsletter and information that appears in local newspapers.
He added he “took the initiative to look for ways to achieve another effective method of communicating with my fellow citizens” while working at his job.
“Through my full-time employment as a truck driver, which allows myself to travel through many communities on a daily basis, I noticed a pretty common theme while visiting these communities and that is they all have community events boards exhibited in prominent locations within their respective communities,” Doll said.
Through his research into community signs, Doll found a company based in Ontario offering reasonable prices on such signs and he brought information on the company to Bowden mayor Robb Stuart and Andy Weiss, the town's chief administrative officer, in May.
Stuart and Weiss felt the sign was something for the town's economic development committee to consider, but the committee deferred the concept back to council.
When Doll brought the sign idea back to council at the Sept. 9 meeting, Weiss asked council how the town would pay for the sign and Stuart suggested money could be taken from town reserves.
Weiss said, however, that if the money is taken out of reserves, the town would have to cash in a guaranteed investment certificate (GIC).
He instead suggested the money come out of council's promotion budget and allocating between $2,000 and $3,000 from that budget towards the sign idea would fit into that budget's mandate.
Coun. Sheila Church tabled a motion to purchase the sign using money from the promotions budget and the motion was unanimously carried.
Doll told council the sign will be dedicated to promoting community events, not businesses, and will be especially visible to residents using the post office.
The price tag for the sign is roughly $3,000 plus the cost of installation and Weiss said in an email on Sept. 18 that he ordered the sign from a company called Global Industrial.
He added the sign will likely be installed within the next four to six weeks.
