The Westgate Mall Association of Carroll brought a proposal to the city that included signage along Highway 30 that would clearly identify the downtown shopping district. City Manager, Michel Pogge-Weaver, provided the details in this first item in a two-part request from the association.
Pogge-Weaver said that if the city purchased the sign, financing could be done through streetscape projects or through tax increment financing. To give the Carroll City Council an idea of the proposed costs, estimates were presented with pricing coming in between $31,000 to $56,000 depending on size and lighting options. Chico Kanne spoke on behalf of the association about their desired placement of the sign.
Carolyn Siemann and Clay Haley spoke for the majority when they said they believed this would be a benefit for the downtown district and agreed that placing the sign to the middle of the lot would be logical, even if creating an island would make snow removal more difficult for city crews. Council members also agreed that the style would need to conform to the current streetscape design. Since there will be no individual businesses named on the sign, councilman Jerry Fleshner said he would like to see something added.
Council members were also reassured that the longevity of the signs would easily surpass 10 years. The second request the association made is for trimming of two trees on the east side of the mall. They are currently being trimmed, but the city was asked about doing additional trimming if needed to improve visibility of a new sign that will be going up on the building. The council will continue working with the association on that request and approved a motion for city staff to gather more information on the parking lot sign project to bring back for review and action at a future meeting.
