By MorinvilleNews.com Staff
Morinville – Results are in from a poll conducted by the Town of Morinville and MorinvilleNews.com to break a tie between council members on just which of two new sign designs would grace the entrances to the community.
Council was presented with two designs using the community’s new branding logo and slogan at its June 14 meeting. With six of seven members of council present, a 3-3 tie emerged, prompting council to put the vote to residents via its website. Morinvillenews.com also polled its readers over the past week – the combined results ended up with a 103-44 vote. The majority of residents who expressed their opinion opted for a design with Morinville’s M standing above the bulk of the sign.
Morinville Town Council had authorized $75,000 in its budget to replace town signs this year; however, costs of the proposed four signs came in significantly higher than anticipated. As a result, the signs will be phased in with two planned for 2011 and another two in 2013.
In April the Town sent a request for proposal to seven vendors. Five bids were returned, of which two were eliminated due to excessive costs. Landale Signs was recommended by the evaluation committee based on price, the company’s experience and the quality of their proposal. The company’s two proposals came in at $131,600 and $121,280, respectively.
In total, Morinville is planning on placing four entrance signs and two secondary signs as part of the brand rollout and implementation. The largest sign will ultimately be placed at Cardiff Road and Highway 2; however, its placement has been postponed until 2013 when the overpass is completed. A second sign is scheduled for West 100 Avenue off the Highway 2 ramp, west of 107 Avenue. Another will be placed on East 100 Avenue, east of the boundary road. A final sign will be placed on the south walking trails on the west side of 100 Street. This sign has also been postponed until 2013.
Secondary signs will replace the Town’s out dated amenities sign located on West 100 Avenue off the highway 2 ramp. A second sign will replace the community information sign located outside the Chamber of Commerce office on 100 Avenue.
Although the town will replace two of the four entrance signs this year, the contract with the vendor will contain language to guard against unreasonable price increases when Morinville is ready to proceed with the next phase of its sign project.
As the design for the signs will be owned by the Town of Morinville, they would have the option to take the order for the remaining two signs elsewhere if the pricing in 2013 is too high.
