Electronic sign for Maplewood Town Hall

skadave said:

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

dave said:

There's no way something like this costs $30k.   It's an LED with wi-fi and simple software run on a cloud server.  

Dave. Shows what the hell you know. The bulbs and software may not cost much. But the sign will need an Italian marble base, a mahogany pergola and a serpentine walk leading from Valley to the sign. The walk will be for senior citizens like myself who haven't had cataract surgery yet and can't read the sign from Valley Street.

A better idea would be to place the sign in back of the town hall. Make the parking lot in back of town hall into a through street and those that want, can treat the sign like a drive-in. They can drive to the back of town hall, read the sign and go on their merry way.

Or another possibility -- give the people sentenced to community service a chair in front of town hall. They can be given cardboard signs with community service announcements to hold up for drivers and rotate them every thirty seconds as cars drive by.

No no no . . . we are dealing with Essex County Construction Prices. This is the broken down cost:

Sign: $6,000

Concrete Foundation: $9,000

Attaching Sign to Concrete Foundation: $4,000

Electric: $5,000

Police Provided Security: $3000

Red Tape: $2000

Poster with Joseph N. DiVincenzo's Face on it $1000 

You forgot that Joe D gets two checks for everything he does.

Screw the sign.  Let's go with a live action scale Diorama with trained Actors, a magician and farm animals.  Enough of this small thinking.

Robert_Casotto said:

Screw the sign.  Let's go with a live action scale Diorama with trained Actors, a magician and farm animals.  Enough of this small thinking.

For 30k I would totally run this.

the rationale for a sign is not that it's needed for emergencies. that would likely be about 0.1% of the usage.  these signs are for everyday information.

I don't really care if the idea gets shouted down by the public. I don't really have any strong opinion pro or con on a sign.  but as I've said on past issues, proposals shouldn't get shouted down for dumb reasons.  they should be rejected for real reasons.  And the argument that we don't need this sign because it wouldn't be useful in the next Sandy is a dumb argument.

ml1 said:

the rationale for a sign is not that it's needed for emergencies. that would likely be about 0.1% of the usage.  these signs are for everyday information.

I don't really care if the idea gets shouted down by the public. I don't really have any strong opinion pro or con on a sign.  but as I've said on past issues, proposals shouldn't get shouted down for dumb reasons.  they should be rejected for real reasons.  And the argument that we don't need this sign because it wouldn't be useful in the next Sandy is a dumb argument.

We are arguing against that because further up someone was arguing that it was a valid reason for the sign.

If you read the whole thread people are against it for other reasons too.  

"the next Sandy" is also a dumb argument in favor of a sign

How about a Nibiru cataclysm event?

After the Post Office business I never thought MOL'ers would ever show a united opinion again

It really is quite funny if it weren't so unfunny

Put the sign in the Village Coffee Parking lot and most of the town will see it anyway

Maybe the the "Official Community Bulletin" board should be an electronic sign. and put an "Official Community Bulletin" on SA as well.  

I wouldn't object if I thought it could be useful.  But I believe it is a stupid frivolous waste of taxpayer money.  and while some one about stated that it is not a huge piece of the budget, the more this type of "small" thing happens, it adds up to a lot.

I just heard from another resident that these signs cause accidents.  Accidents happen because drivers are distracted by the lights.

Maybe out TC should find out if this is true and if so what the uptick in accidents is

#maplewoodtownshipcommittee

Well, I guess Olivebee has finally confirmed the identity that we've all known forever but weren't supposed to acknowledge here. Not exactly major news. But a minor MOL milestone nonetheless.

(And I agree with her on this, fwiw. Sign is a bad idea.)

I don't like the idea either.  Millburn has temporary roadside signs on which they publicize odd, sometimes meaningless messages, which I feel distract my driving attention.  But for some reason, they feel the messages are important enough to make a driver look away from his driving attention.  There are already enough traffic signs that are less than necessary.

If a temporary sign is needed in an emergency, then put up a temporary sign.

NIX.

Not in favor of the sign.  Did not like the one they put up at the high school.  This one sounds worse.

imonlysleeping said:

Well, I guess Olivebee has finally confirmed the identity that we've all known forever but weren't supposed to acknowledge here. Not exactly major news. But a minor MOL milestone nonetheless.

(And I agree with her on this, fwiw. Sign is a bad idea.)

Hey, you all already knew who I am anyhow...I don't care- I wish no one was anonymous on here.

Regarding the CHS sign:

In my opinion this sign is also information overload.  Just when I want to be seriously aware of kids crossing the street and motorists doing unexpected things, this sign is trying to attract my much needed attention.  I know they spent much money installing it, but I suggest that it should be turned OFF on school days, nights when there are activities going on, and on Saturdays when there are also school activities going on (i.e. carwashes when kids often dart out into traffic).

This one should have been nixed before it was installed.  Dangerous!

There are 74 comments on this thread...did you all email or call the TC? let them know your opinion. tel #s on town website

TownshipCommittee-  TownshipCommittee@twp.maplewood.nj.us

Victor DeLuca-  v.deluca@twp.maplewood.nj.us

Marlon Brownlee-  mbrownlee@twp.maplewood.nj.us

India Larrier-  ILarrier@twp.maplewood.nj.us

Greg Lembrich-  glembrich@twp.maplewood.nj.us

Nancy Adam-  nadams@twp.maplewood.nj.us

Emailed them yesterday noting my opposition on aesthetic and fiscal grounds, and also questioning its effectiveness.  I think the goal is a good one, just not happy at all about this particular approach.

Well put

ctrzaska said:

Emailed them yesterday noting my opposition on aesthetic and fiscal grounds, and also questioning its effectiveness.  I think the goal is a good one, just not happy at all about this particular approach.

If someone wrote a petition or standard letter to oppose the sign, I'd sign it. 

Here's what I wrote - feel free to borrow part or all as you like:

Subject: Town Hall electronic sign - aesthetically and fiscally unsound

Dear Maplewood Township Committee members,

I learned that you are considering installing an electronic sign in front of the signature building of our town. Not only is this a poor use of taxpayer dollars, but it will be an aesthetic eyesore in front of the most stately and picturesque building in our town.

If the Station House and the coming "Post House" (or whatever we're calling it now) haven't already marred the facade of Maplewood, this will be just one more regrettable decision for everyone to endure every time they drive down Valley St.  The electronic sign in front of Columbia High School should be sufficient proof that you never get used to the ugliness.

Please reconsider this decision. Maplewood has functioned perfectly well without such a sign for all these many years of its incorporation, and we don't need it now or ever.

(image below, taken from Wikipedia, included here)

Sincerely,
jasper

Vic responded with this:

Thank you for your email. No final decision has been made yet. By the way, the sign would not go in front of the building but would be at the corner of Park Road. I understand you are opposed anyway but I just wanted you to be informed of that fact.

And I responded with this:

Thanks for that information, Vic, but it's still going to be ugly, and people driving by there, especially right across from the park, need to be minding the road, not "what's happening in town" signs. Let's think of it as a form of texting while driving.

Joan Crystal posted a very thoughtful comment on MOL on this topic about better ways to reach those who are not regularly (or ever) online with important updates. Those same people are not any more likely to be happening by Town Hall on a regular basis and reading electronic signs. The limited reach simply doesn't justify the cost, visually or monetarily.

Regards,
jasper

Valley Street is a county road. Half of the cars traveling on it are not those of Maplewood homeowners. Let's keep our lovely town residential. Are we trying to copy some other town? We don't need to do that. Let's find ways to cut our budget,not add more costs.

It could be set up to play a perpetual game of pong................residents can bring blankets and picnic baskets and sit on the grass watching the little orb go back and forth.  Who says this is a dull town?

No. set it up for Pokemon Go with hundreds of the little buggers to be found on the lawn. Then, (back to community service) when thousands of hordes of blighters descend on the lawn, miscreants, serving community service,can perform the function of Town Crier.... "Here Ye.... Hear Ye," for less important stuff and "Oyez.... Oyez" for when Joe D makes an appearance.

anyways, it is clear that we on M.O.L. have reached consensus... the sign is b______t.

Has there ever been an issue where there were no disagreements on MOL?!  Dave, Jamie, please archive this in the MOL Hall of Fame.

+1

Formerlyjerseyjack said:

anyways, it is clear that we on M.O.L. have reached consensus... the sign is b______t.

i'll play devil's advocate here.  Much like the three people who are triggered by the sound of a leaf blower we need to enact rules and/or expend funds for the sole benefit of the extreme few, in this case the like ten people who have no Internet/Library/telephone access.

Robert_Casotto said:

i'll play devil's advocate here.  Much like the three people who are triggered by the sound of a leaf blower we need to enact rules and/or expend funds for the sole benefit of the extreme few, in this case the like ten people who have no Internet/Library/telephone access.

We can find how who they are and send them post cards.

OliveBee said
Hey, you all already knew who I am anyhow...I don't care- I wish no one was anonymous on here.

apparently you are quite the identity collector yourself. i still don't have health insurance, thanks for nothing. wish I had never pm'ed you, do a little research into borderline personality disorder.

Robert_Casotto said:

people who are triggered by the sound of a leaf blower [ ... ] people who have no Internet/Library/telephone access.

Think what these poor folks in both groups are missing out on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HZsFZA6xrY