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1 <br /> ORANGE COUNTY <br /> BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS <br /> ACTION AGENDA ITEM ABSTRACT <br /> MEETING DATE: <br /> Action Agenda <br /> Item b <br /> SUBJECT: Highway Signage to Welcome Visitors <br /> DEPARTMENT: PUBLIC HEARING: Yes—No_x <br /> Visitors Bureau BUDGET AMENDMENT NEEDED: Yes—No x <br /> ATTACHMENT(S): INFORMATION CONTACT: <br /> Ted Abernathy(ext. 2325) <br /> County Map Showing <br /> Sign Locations TELEPHONE NUMBERS: <br /> Hillsborough–732-8181 <br /> Proposed Sign Design Durham–699-7331 <br /> Mebane–(910)227-2031 <br /> Letter from Visitors Bureau Chapel Hill–967-9251 or 968-4501 <br /> Board Chairman,Lee Pavao <br /> PURPOSE: For the Board of Commissioners to consider a request from the Visitors Bureau to approve <br /> a design and site plan for highway signage welcoming visitors to Orange County. <br /> BACKGROUND: In June of 1996,Commissioner Bill Crowther,then a member of the Chapel <br /> Hill/Orange County Visitors Bureau Board of Directors,proposed that the Visitors Bureau consider <br /> erecting highway signage at various locations throughout the county to welcome visitors. <br /> The Visitors Bureau engaged their advertising agency to research signage specifications established by the <br /> state's Department of Transportation(DOT)and to recommend an appropriate design that met these <br /> standards. The Bureau's Board of Directors unanimously approved the attached design as their <br /> recommendation to the Board of Commissioners. DOT specifications allow the use of a one-line slogan. <br /> The Visitors Bureau Board recommends using`You'll Be A Fan For Life,"the marketing slogan recently <br /> adopted for use in promoting the county to visitors. <br /> The metal signs will be green with white type,with the county seal presented in color(red,yellow,blue and <br /> black.) The interstate highway signs (3 proposed)measure 11 feet by 4 feet. The signs on secondary roads <br /> (11 proposed)will be 6 feet by 3 feet. The total cost for producing and installing the signs will likely be <br /> between$15,000 and$30,000,assuming prison labor would be utilized to make the signs and that DOT <br /> would provide both engineering and labor to design and install the steel supports for the signs. Final <br /> estimates can not be provided by DOT until a site plan outlining locations and specific sign design are <br /> submitted. The Visitors Bureau Board has approved an expenditure of$15,000 for this project. <br /> RECOMMENDATION: As the Board directs. <br />