Blaine City Council approves electronic sign for H Street

By Stefanie Donahue

The Blaine senior and community center on H Street is on track to get an electronic sign.

During their October 23 regular meeting, Blaine City Council voted unanimously to approve the installation of the sign at the front of the center. At a public hearing on October 9, residents raised concerns about the cost, intended use and possible safety hazards of the proposed sign.

The sign will have an electronic display to convey event information and community service messages; that portion of the sign will be approximately 7 feet wide and one foot high, said Blaine community and development tourism coordinator Debbie Harger. The full sign will be somewhere between 9 to 12 feet in height.

“The community center is our emergency center,” said Blaine city manager Dave Wilbrecht. An electronic sign is the best way to communicate important messages to the public, he said.

The Sign Post, a Bellingham-based sign company, has been contracted for the project, Harger said. Prior to the meeting, the business displayed a prototype outside city hall.

The monochromatic electronic sign is capable of displaying rotating messages that can be updated almost instantly, Harger said. The sign will cost $20,000, which the city council approved in a mid-year budget adjustment in August; the Blaine Senior Center contributed $5,000. Lower-priced options, such as a sign that can be manually adjusted, would have cost $7,000, Harger said.

During the earlier public hearing, some residents, while acknowledging the need for an improved sign, expressed concern about the sign’s cost and its potential to distract drivers who are passing by the Blaine school campus.

“I think it will be less flash than I first imagined,” said Alicia Rule on Monday after listening to Harger’s presentation. “I feel worried that we have a school across the street.”

Blaine City Council members Bonnie Onyon and Meg Olson emphasized the need to minimize distraction. Olson said her approval was contingent on the city working with representatives at The Sign Post to make sure the sign has minimal impact on drivers.

Blaine Senior Center director Kathy Sitker encouraged the council to approve the proposal. “I think it’s very important that we do have a sign up front,” she said.