Selectmen Discuss Street Sign Replacement

Some sparks flew as the Board of Selectmen discussed “the replacement of stolen or damaged street signs” for nearly half an hour Wednesday night.

As old street signs need replacement, the town is moving away from the existing “u channel painted” sign post and sign and using a “square galvanized town sign” system that is less expensive, much harder to steal and meets the federal “Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices” standards, Chief Administrative Officer Robert Skinner said. The new structures, including two stacked street signs, cost an average of $75, he said. The old style is actually closer to $100, he added.

Reusing old posts is not generally practical because of height requirements, breakaway requirements, the theft issue and their six-year life span, said Skinner, who added the new posts have a 25-year life. And the cost of refurbishing a sign with an old post is about $68, he added.

Selectmen Marc E. Cerniglia, however, spoke at length on the issue, arguing that the town has not done proper analysis and is wasting money. Others accused him of trying to "micromanage" the budget and town departments. One selectman even walked out of the discussion and returned to the meeting when it was over.

No action was taken.

Cerniglia contends the town is wasting taxpayer’s money by installing a sign and lettering that is larger than required by federal standards (speed limit plays a factor in the requirements). Cerniglia also took issue with the $2.50 town seal on the new signs and the fact that the town and board do not know what it will cost to eventually replace all of the town's signs.

Cerniglia said the larger signs use more steel and the $24.50 for galvanized posts, is according to his research, too high. 

He spoke at length on each factor and at one point selectman David Gilchrist said the issue had been settled in April and accused him of "inconsiderately wasting the time of this board."

The meeting got a little heated again when First Selectman Richard Barlow asked Cerniglia to let Skinner answer his questions one at a time.

Cerniglia then framed a question about reusing old posts. As Skinner tried to answer, Cerniglia cut him off. Barlow and others asked that Skinner be allowed to answer to which Cerniglia said, “It’s a rhetorical question. He can answer when he gets the floor.”

Cerniglia continued, “I want to understand why the board here feels we can go ahead and incur expenses and not understand what the total cost is for the town?”

At that point, about halfway into the discussion, Gilchrist got up, asked someone to get him when “when this bull----’s over” and left the room. (He returned to the meeting when the discussion ended.)

Cerniglia called the move “rather inappropriate” and continued speaking on the matter for several more minutes.

Skinner asked highway foreman Rick Lassen to attend the meeting and both said the prices were obtained from reliable, approved vendors. The town makes its own signs from pre-sized blanks and size options are limited, Skinner said. The signs also meet federal standards Skinner said.

The meeting got heated at other moments as well and other selectmen also weighed in on the matter.

“I would offer we are micromanaging something that was within the budget established by this Board of Selectmen (and) approved by the town for the public works department,” Barlow said.

Selectmen Bruce Lockwood asked Cerniglia if was going to break down every item for every town department.

“There is no way when we’re going through the budget process that we’re going to have this detail broken down for every item,” Lockwood said. “There has to be some belief that when we look at the budget process and they come in with their numbers and they’re put in front of us that there’s some validity to those numbers.”

“And you know what? That’s where you’re dead wrong,” Cerniglia responded, adding that businesses don't just accept numbers they are given.

Hear the entire audio on the town's Web site.