Seabrook forms ad hoc signage committee and backs new trailhead wayfinding signs

The Seabrook City Council voted unanimously to establish an ad hoc citywide signage committee and, separately, to direct staff to work with the Open Space & Trails (OST) committee to design trailhead wayfinding signs and awnings consistent with the city’s branding.

Council member Buddy Hammond moved the signage committee proposal, saying business stakeholders who participated in the Bayside Park stakeholder meetings asked for help getting people off TX-146 and into Old Seabrook businesses. “When we were holding the meetings on the stakeholders for the Bayside Park, we had a number of the business owners down there. And one of the issues that was really brought up and pretty well agreed on by everybody was signage and getting people off Main to the businesses that are back off Main Street,” Hammond said.

Separately, the Open Space & Trails committee presented a proposal for new trailhead wayfinding and map signage. John Coggeshall of OST told council that the local trail network — which he called the “Seabrook Veil System” — ranks highly with regional trail guides and draws day visitors. “Of all those trail systems, the users have currently have the Seabrook Veil System as the number 1 trail system in the area,” Coggeshall said. He described visitor groups and local meetups that bring people to Seabrook and said existing park signs are worn and do not show the expanded trail network.

Gail, a city staff member in public affairs, said staff would work with OST on professional designs, sustainable materials and installation options and would return with quotes and a proposed funding source. “If this is approved tonight, that he and OST would work with our public affairs team to make sure that we went through a professional sign company to make sure that we put it on sustainable, materials,” Gail said.

Council approved the ad hoc committee formation with the membership structure set in the motion: one member from the Seabrook Economic Development Corporation, one city council member, one Old Seabrook resident, one member from the Open Space & Trails committee and up to five Old Seabrook business members. For the trail signage item, council approved staff direction to work with OST and requested staff to return with design quotes and a budget amendment if necessary.

Next steps: staff will draft a resolution establishing the committee and bring candidate appointments and professional-design estimates back to council for approval.