A committee will look into the look and costs of erecting new welcome signs. (Richard McGuire file photo)
A committee made up of two members of Town of Osoyoos council and two members of the Destination Osoyoos board of directors will be in charge of deciding the look and costs of erecting four new large Welcome signs for Osoyoos.
Town of Osoyoos council approved a motion Monday approving the four-member committee be formed and determine what the Welcome signs will look like and how much money should be spent to erect them in the coming weeks.
The operational services department was tasked with researching possible new designs for the Town of Osoyoos Welcome signs, said department manager Jim Dinwoodie during a presentation to town council on Monday.
A Request for Proposals was issued in October and seven proposals for new sign designs were issued, with the price tag including designing, building and installing four new Welcome signs, removing and disposing of the existing signs and supplying, installing and energizing the lighting for three of the signs, he said.
“The seven companies who responded to this Request for Proposals submitted a total of nine different design options,” he said. “The cost of these options ranged from $54,824.70 to $212,486.87. The operational services department is seeking town council’s direction on the type of selection process they would like to employ to choose the most appropriate design for our new Welcome signs.”
Options included having only members of town council make the decision; having a committee with representatives from Destination Osoyoos (DO) and town council decide; having a committee with representation from DO, town council and two volunteer community members chosen from an advertisement placed in local media; and a committee with representatives from DO, town council and two community members picked by DO and town council decide.
Coun. Mike Campol forwarded a motion asking that the option selecting members of council and DO’s board and town council make the decision.
Coun. C.J. Rhodes supported the motion saying this would expedite the matter quickly as choosing community members to be involved could take some time.
Council voted in favour of selecting councillors Jim King and Carol Youngberg to be part of the selection process.
The two representatives from DO’s board of directors will be selected very soon.
The four-member panel will be able to access opinions from other board and council members as well as the Town’s design advisory panel and local residents.
Mayor Sue McKortoff said she’s confident the committee will discuss the final price tag, hinting strongly she and local residents would not support spending excessive amounts of money on these four Welcome signs.
The Requests for Proposals ranged from $54,000 to more than $212,000 and the issue of how much to spend will need to be a priority with the new committee, she said.
KEITH LACEY
Osoyoos Times
