Sunman council agrees to fund remainder of digital sign, save larger grant for park light replacement

Sunman’s town council moved to finish paying for a $5,000 digital sign locally and pursue a larger grant to replace aging, leaning light poles at the town park.

Councilors and staff said the park lights project is an estimated $80,000 effort and better matches the county community foundation’s large grant timeline; to avoid using that larger grant for the sign, the council approved taking $2,500 from the water fund and $2,500 from wastewater to complete the sign purchase and then apply for the large grant cycle for the park lights.

Treasurer provided the background that the town had explored grant funding for the sign but the regional foundation will not announce its large grant cycle until after the foundation’s June event, a timeline that does not align with the town’s desired sign schedule. Councilors discussed alternative funding mixes and agreed a split between the water and wastewater budgets was fair and appropriate.

Council members emphasized safety concerns about the park lighting: several poles are leaning and one pole had previously fallen, leaving the ball fields unusable at night. Town staff said the lights and pole replacement would likely require multiple funding sources.

The council also directed staff to proceed with the digital sign procurement and to preserve grant capacity to pursue funding for the park lighting project. The motion to allocate the funds was made and recorded as approved; no detailed roll‑call tally was recorded in the public transcript.