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Show Bountiful entrance signs to be revised due to exorbitant cost By GARY R. BLODGETT BOUNTIFUL - Based on the theory that "the city is getting only one-half of what it was promised," Bountiful City Council decided last Wednesday night to rebid the cost of street "entrance signs" into the city. The council voted 4-1 to rebid the architectural design and material mate-rial costs of these signs to be located at various entry sites into the city. "The council earlier approved $45,000 for design and construction of the signs - whether it be one sign or six signs and we should not spend one dime more than that amount just because the bids come in much higher than expected' said Councilman Bob Gramoll. The remainder of the council agreed, but did not agree uniformly on the manner in which the objective objec-tive should be reached. Gramoll said, "I think the matter should be placed back into the lap of the architect, who should then redesign the number of signs which can be constructed for a cost not to exceed $45, 000. " Councilman Harold Shafter, who cast the dissenting vote, disagreed. "We told the architect from the beginning what we, as a council, wanted. They have done that, and now some of the council is changing chang-ing its mind. I can't go along with that," said Shafter. Meanwhile, the council rejected one bid for an entrance sign north of Slim Olsen's on U.S. Highway 91. The bid was for $20,975, with a revised architectural drawing for a sign that would cost an estimated $14,500. Other signs, it was explained, ex-plained, will be similar in design, but vary in size according to affordable affor-dable cost, the council explained. The council agreed that all signs should be bid at one time with a specification that the total bid, including in-cluding architectural costs remain within the $45,000 previously agreed to by the council. The number of signs will depend on the cost of each sign. Council members said they would like to have a minimum of three signs to be located at major locations such as Highway 91 and major freeway entrances en-trances into the city. It was pointed out that the major "override" costs of the sign construction con-struction are with the brass lettering and the rock base. The council was reminded that the original cost of the sign proposed north of Slim Olsen's was approximately $9,000. This figure was increased to nearly $21,000 in the most recent bid before revisions lowered this cost to about $14,500. It was also explained that unless the ground cover is kept very low, landscaping around these signs will reduce, if not eliminate, the public's view of the base of the sign. "So why should we spend a lot of money for a rock base that is not going to be seen by the public?" asked Gramoll. |