Dorr Township Board still fighting over proposed electric sign

“Sign, sign, everywhere a sign. Barking at the scenery, breaking my mind. Do this, don’t do that, can’t you read the sign?” — Five-Man Electrical Band, 1971

The squabbles over a proposed electronic sign to replace the current manual one in front of the Dorr Township Hall continue, and the Township Board Tuesday continued to kick the can down the road.

Though it appears a majority support the new device, board members voted to table the proposal until consultation can be made with Professional Code Inspections as to whether it would violate local ordinances.

The board discussed the issue over the summer, but there was no decision.

Clerk Brian Boot reintroduced the issue by telling colleagues he was able to get a much more reasonable price than before, $16,850, for a new electronic sign, which he said could be useful in relaying information to motorists about weather, traffic conditions and even meetings and coming events.

Boot noted that a large number of motorists pass through the intersection of 18^th Street and 142^nd Avenue, and an easily changeable and up to date electronic sign would be a valuable public service.

“Nobody goes to our web site to get information, but almost everybody passes through this intersection,” the clerk said.

Trustee Josh Otto said he has some concerns about whether such a device could be distracting to motorists and create some kind of traffic hazard.

However, Supervisor Jeff Miling pointed out that vehicles half the time are stopped for the light, and when they are moving, it’s only 25 miles per hour.

Boot said the township set aside about $26,000 for township complex repairs, which would be the line item for this light in the budget, leaving almost $10,000 to handle other problems. He noted the township will have to pay up to $660 to move handicapped parking spaces to immediately in front of the township hall and have an asphalt ramp installed. He also noted that perhaps one to two thousand dollars would have to be spent on repairs to the furnace manifold for the hall.

Miling said a new electronic sign “opens up things you can do, and we can do a lot more.”

The biggest objections came from Trustee John Tuinstra, who insisted the public still is not happy with having to pay for the electronic sign in front of the library. His objections focused on how the township spends money.

“This is money better spent elsewhere,” Tuinstra asserted, particularly for fire department equipment and township roads. Both issues have been rejected by voters in elections since August 2012.

Insisting that as little as $100 would buy the township one load of gravel, Tuinstra said though it costs about $500,000 per mile to pave, a chip seal job for the same would cost only $28,000.

“Instead of spending for a sign we don’t need, the money should be set aside for roads,” he commented.

Miling countered that under Tuinstra’s plan, it would take as much as five to six years of pinching pennies to get a mile of road paved.

Undaunted, Tuinstra said, “Roads are the place where people connect with their township government… It’s not respectful to tell township taxpayers that we won’t do anything for roads unless they give us more money.”

Tuinstra maintained the current sign at township hall should be simply cleaned up and put back in service.

Miling likened Tuinstra’s argument to that given by people 100 years ago who didn’t want to use new-fangled motorized vehicles for plowing their fields instead of horses and mules.

“I like moving ahead with future stuff,” the supervisor said.

Regardless, in the end the Township Board voted to table the motion to approved the $16,580 for an electronic sign until PCI gives them direction on local ordinances.

PHOTO: The Dorr Township Library sign serves as a model for what Dorr Township would like to offer citizens who stop at or pass through the busy intersection of 142nd Avenue and 18th Street.