It soon will be easier to locate and maneuver around the city of Arnold’s Public Works complex on Arnold Tenbrook Road.
City Council members have agreed to spend $24,625.09 on new signs for the complex.
The City Council voted 7-0 Dec. 17 to pay Warren Sign in Arnold $21,769 for a new monument sign and another $2,856.09 on lettering for the complex’s buildings.
City Administrator Bryan Richison said he did not know when the new signs would be installed at the complex in the 2900 block of Arnold Tenbrook Road.
Richison said the monument will replace old signs that were difficult to see.
He also said the new lettering will make it easier to identify the various buildings at the complex, including the Public Works building, the new Parks and Recreation building, and the Animal Control/Health Department building.
Richison said the signs will be a nice addition to the improvement projects that are nearing completion at the complex, including the construction of new buildings to house employees of the Public Works’ Street Department and the Parks and Recreation Department. Those buildings will cost an estimated $1,202,600.
A lot of the improvements got underway after Judy Wagner took over as Arnold Public Works director in October 2019. She retired from the Missouri Department of Transportation, where she had worked since 1991.
“We went a long time without really making much investment in that complex,” Richison said. “Before Judy came, it was kind of disorganized and some of the buildings were looking a little run down.
“We have invested in new buildings, and (Wagner) has done a great job of reorganizing out there and either throwing out or selling some stuff we no longer need. It is a whole lot better, and (the new signage) is a nice way to cap off our investment there. It will be a nicer sign and have the same look and feel of the more recent signs that the city has done. It will be a nice finishing touch to what we have invested out there.
“We want this to be a nice facility for the public who needs to go there and our employees who work there.”
Wagner said the monument sign will be placed 13 feet from the street, which is outside the street right of way and beyond the utility easement corridor but does not meet the typical 10-foot offset. She said the location for the sign was chosen for improved visibility.
Richison said the 10-foot setback rule is mainly in place to avoid any disputes after a sign is constructed in the city’s rights of way and then must be moved because of road widening or utility work.
He said variances can be granted to companies that want to build within the setback, and the city can provide itself that same flexibility.
“It is better for us to follow our own rules, but they are our rules,” Richison said. “Since we are the enforcer of the rules, we can use our discretion. If it turns out we have to move the sign in the future, it will not be a problem.”
City officials did not solicit bids or designs for the signs from any other firms besides Warren Sign.
Richison said Arnold has developed a relationship with the sign company, which blossomed after the creation and installation of a sign for the Jim Edwards Archery Park, which opened in 2018 along Telegraph Road near Tenbrook Road.
The city of Arnold also used Warren Sign to design a new electric sign near the entrance to the City Hall and Police Station complex on Jeffco Boulevard. It also hired Warren Sign to create and install new signs that were hung over the entrances to City Hall and the Police Station, placed at the entrance to the City Hall parking lot on Dohack Drive, and at City Hall near the lower-level meeting room entrance. In addition, the city replaced a digital sign at the roundabout near the Arnold Recreation Center, Arnold Branch of the Jefferson County Library and the Jefferson College Arnold campus.
The city paid Warren Sign $123,178 for that work after the contract was approved in December 2019 and the work was completed this year.
Richison said it is not unheard of for the city to award a contract to a company it has a relationship with that has expertise city staff members do not and that has provided a service council members are happy with.
“The council always has the option to waive or alter our purchasing policies,” Richison said. “Those are self-imposed guidelines. We don’t do this very often, and when we do deviate, we usually still try to get three quotes.
“But in this case, we have developed a good relationship with Warren, and they do good work. We are happy with the product they have put together for us. As long as that continues, I could see us continuing to use them as a sole-source provider.”
Richison said another benefit of continuing to work with Warren Sign is the creation of signs with a uniform look for all city-owned buildings.
“At this point, I can’t say for sure that we will never look at or go in a different direction, but they have developed a look and feel they can adapt to different shapes and sizes and still make it look like all of the signs belong together,” Richison said. “We have been very happy with the work they have done. It has certainly worked out well for us, and I think it has worked out well for them.”
Ward 1 Councilman Jason Fulbright was not absent from the Dec. 17 meeting.