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Council approves moving forward on purchase of two portable message signs
Summary
The committee advanced Ordinance 26‑02 to buy two solar‑charged portable message devices — a $18,700 75‑inch message board and a $4,950 arrow‑board trailer — after staff highlighted safety uses, state contract pricing, GPS tracking and expected rental payback periods.
The finance committee voted to advance Ordinance 26‑02, authorizing purchase of two portable message devices for the service department: a 75‑inch message board at $18,700 and an arrow‑board trailer at $4,950. Director Hitch said state contract pricing was used and described the units as solar‑charged with GPS tracking; the purchases were presented as safety equipment to support lane closures and construction‑season traffic control.
Director Hitch explained rental comparatives to justify the purchase, saying the message board rents for about $1,645 per week (a buyback period of roughly 12 weeks at that rental rate) and the arrow board rents for about $305 per week (buyback in about 17 weeks). A councilor asked how message content is updated and whether the units are password protected; Hitch said the devices use channel logic software with a phone‑based remote and expected user password protection and GPS monitoring to detect tampering or theft.
Council moved the ordinance to second reading with unanimous support (affirmative votes from Lang, Minnick, Greenfield, King, Waring and Mann). The committee did not finalize procurement details beyond awarding the ordinance’s advancement; staff said state contract pricing was the source and will provide further implementation steps as needed.
