Councilor Ed Hos urges project-site signage; committee refers plan to city manager

Councilor Ed Hos, who gave his address as 114 Jordan Road, told the committee that residents often lose track of public projects between the design phase and construction and urged the city to post explanatory project signs at work sites.

“I think we're missing a real opportunity here to advise the citizenry of what projects are going to happen,” Hos said, arguing signs should note why a project is being done, how it was paid for and what the finished work will look like.

City Manager Jake said staff has drafted an approach that could be implemented through an administrative directive rather than an ordinance. He said the city looked at other communities and that a $500,000 project-cost threshold would make sense; signs would include a brief description, the contractor and designer, anticipated start and completion dates and a QR code linking to live project information so the sign itself would not need frequent revision.

Councilors raised cost and timing questions. Jake said sign production could likely be absorbed into a project’s budget and estimated “a couple hundred dollars” per project but cautioned exact costs were not yet calculated. He and staff noted federal grant-funded projects often carry their own required signage and a separate city sign would be used in those cases.

Councilor Ellis moved to recommend the communication request for project information signage and enhanced public outreach be referred to the city manager; Councilor Workman seconded the motion. The committee voted unanimously in favor.

The committee asked the manager to return with implementation details and a recommended threshold or policy tool; the item was referred, not adopted as policy.