LED Electronic sign to appear in Englewood Cliffs
Posted in Outdoor LED Programmable Signs on June 28th, 2010 by admin – Comments (0)ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS — Elected officials have green lit a project that would install an LED sign in the community to inform residents about emergencies and other announcements.
However, the proposed sign would violate Borough ordinances, according to Mayor Joseph Parisi, Jr.
The sign is 3 feet, 10 inches high by 7 feet, 10 inches wide, according to Dave Goldberg of Millennium Visual Systems.
Parisi fears that if the ordinances were changed, local businesses would want to put large signs of their own.
“I would vehemently ask the council not to change the sign ordinance because then every commercial property and everyone else can turn around and say, ‘I want one!’” he said. “The other option is you go in front of the Board of Adjustment and ask for a variance.”
Councilwoman Carroll McMorrow, a supporter of the sign, said she is willing to do what it takes to get the sign up, and stressed to the council that they should not pass up on the opportunity.
“I just think it’s such a wonderful idea in today’s time to be given an opportunity to get something like this to benefit the residents,” she said. “It’s transparency, it’s openness in government and it’s getting the word out there faster.”
The mayor disagreed.
“To me, it’s a waste of our money, a waste of our resources and it takes the beauty away from Englewood Cliffs,” Parisi said.
The majority of the sign’s $19,000 price tag comes from two grants awarded by Mid-Bergen Regional Health Commission for $14,000.
McMorrow said LG Electronics is willing to sponsor the remaining $5,000 for the purchase.
The deadline to accept and use the grant money is the end of July.
Officials were able to test a sign out. A demonstration display was lent to the Borough and temporarily displayed in front of the Ambulance Corps building on Hudson Terrace.
However, finding a permanent location may be a problem.
“We don’t have a downtown central location like these other towns do,” said Councilman Ilan Plawker. “We talked about electronic signs over the years many, many times and each time we come to the same decision. We don’t have one location that lends itself to where a majority of people in town could see it.”
Plawker suggested using the grant money to improve communication in the Borough in a different way – creating and updating the Borough website.
“It seems to me that a website developer and maintaining that website for Englewood Cliffs would serve the community a lot better than a sign on Hudson Terrace,” Plawker said. “The fact of the matter is the town sorely needs a website reaching out to the whole community.”
The government is working with Millennium Visual Systems, an LED electronic sign and programmable display company based in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y.
Mid-Bergen contacted McMorrow, the Board of Health liaison, a couple of months ago to inform her that Englewood Cliffs is one of five municipalities to receive a $12,000 grant. She was informed of the additional $2,000 at a later date.
“I was very excited to hear that because there are only certain communities chosen, and Englewood Cliffs was one of them,” McMorrow said. “If we do not use that money, we will lose that money.”
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