Sylvania votes to buy mobile message board

8/29/2007

To promote better communication with its residents, the city of Sylvania plans to buy a mobile message board.

The board can serve double duty by letting motorists know about detours, for example, and by displaying numbers to show how fast drivers are zipping along the streets.

Councilman Todd Milner, who recommended the city purchase the message board, said he received many calls when work began to replace the Main Street bridge, and there clearly is a need for another communication tool to let people know about such projects.

The city rented a mobile message board for a short time for use with the bridge project, and people apparently paid attention to it. Telephone calls decreased after the message board was in place, said Mr. Milner, chairman of council's street committee. Council agreed last week to spend up to $25,673 for a new solar-powered mini-message board from Howard T. Moriarty Co. of Toledo. The board can be towed by the city's maintenance vehicles and programmed by the city's personnel.

The board can be used for the Main Street bridge project, which is about half-way finished, and for future projects. The board can alert motorists to road closures, accidents, detours, pavement striping, and similar construction activities.

Mr. Milner said the board will be a great tool for future street projects and will give the city a way to boost communication with its citizens. The city requested that the message board be equipped with the radar speed monitor, similar to the unit used by the police division.