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Meriden council rejects proposed 20-year Lamar billboard lease, citing timing and value concerns
Summary
After a long debate about rent, advertising hours and timing, the Meriden City Council voted to accept the finance committee's recommendation and deny a proposed 20-year lease with Lamar for a billboard at 528 Murdoch Avenue; an amendment to accept a revised lease failed 4-5.
Meriden City Council voted to deny a proposed 20-year lease with Lamar Companies for a billboard at 528 Murdoch Avenue after councilors raised concerns about negotiating an extension eight years before the current contract expires and questioned the value of the 2,000 annual advertising hours Lamar proposed to provide to the city.
City Manager Brian Daniels described Lamar's revised offer as "their absolute best offer," saying the company agreed to a staggered rent schedule (years 1: $45,000; years 6: $49,500; years 11: $54,450; years 16: $59,008.95) and to pay each lease year upfront by December 10. Daniels said the current contract yields about $60,000 a year and that the revised lease would lock Lamar in for 20 years and spread the city's 2,000 hours of advertising across the company's four Meriden billboards.
Several councilors questioned the asserted public value of the 2,000 hours and whether those hours translate into meaningful marketing benefit. "That would be 40 hours a week. That would be 6 hours a day," one councilor said, adding the claim "doesn't pass the eye test" unless many of the slots run overnight.
Opponents also argued the timing was wrong: negotiating a long extension with eight years remaining on the existing lease could forgo near-term revenue that the city otherwise would collect. Supporters said locking in advertising and receiving upfront payments had fiscal and marketing advantages.
Councilors voted on an amendment to adopt the revised lease; the amendment failed on a 4-5 voice/hand-count. After additional discussion the council then voted to accept the finance committee's recommendation to deny the lease, effectively rejecting Lamar's proposal.
City Manager Daniels said staff and counsel negotiated with Lamar and requested the company's best terms before coming to the full council. The council also discussed how hours have been used under existing contracts and whether future marketing plans would take fuller advantage of donated advertising time.
The council did not approve the 20-year lease; the matter can be revisited later and both parties retain the right to bring proposals back for future consideration.
