New signs point way for visitors
A number of signs have popped up all over McMinnville.
For the last week or so, McMinnville?s Public Works Department has been busy placing the directional signs.
There are ones pointing the way to the Civic Center, the high school, Pistole Park, the County Administration Building, the Chamber of Commerce and Historic Downtown. Still to be placed will be signs for the greenway, the arboretum, city hall, police department and other points of interest around Warren County.
?If you have ever gone to another town and couldn?t find anything, you would appreciate having them,? said Public Works director Bill Brock. ?If you don?t know where something is, you have to wander around until you find it or ask someone. That?s why the signs were placed. I think they are a good idea.?
According to Brock, his department purchased and placed the signs, but the credit for the idea goes to Sandra Haynes. She had expressed a need for the signs some time ago with the Chamber of Commerce.
The idea did make a little headway with past city planner Jack Qualls before he resigned. At the time of his resignation, the idea was presented by him to Brock who ran with it.
With the city purchasing the signs and Public Works handling the installation, the cost for the signs is currently $1,350. That number will continue to rise slightly with each sign purchased but the department has been doing what it can to keep the cost minimal.
Most response to the signs has been positive but there has been some negative comments regarding placement. To decide on placement, the department used the Uniform Traffic Control Device manual to determine which signs were placed and where.
?It tells you what color, how high, how far off the road, proper location and the size based on the speed,? said Brock. ?It tells you everything you need to know about sign placement. It?s a manual we have to go by. We have to follow that by law.?
Hate them or love them, they are here to stay. Any request for changes to the signs, or specifically their placement, must be made to elected officials and go through one of the city committees for approval.