CRA board considers new gateway signs

CRESTVIEW — New city gateway signs could be in Crestview’s near future. The Community Redevelopment Agency discussed the idea of replacing the signs located around the downtown area.

CRA Director Alisa Burleson’s idea for three new signs includes a monument-style sign located at South Main Street and Highway 85, an archway at North Main Street and Highway 90, and a stone column design in the small triangle at the intersection of Highways 85 and 90.

"Gateway entrances are very beneficial to a district," Burleson said. "If you all will think about when you build a subdivision, one thing that attracts buyers to the subdivision is the pretty entrance."

Burleson estimates the cost of the new signs will be at least $100,000, or half the available funds in the CRA Master Plan budget for parking, land, signage, buildings and security. She also noted that the current signs are beginning to show their age, prompting the need for an upgrade.

"I’d like to say we should move pretty quick on this," board member Ron Gautney said. "We’ve delayed this for so long now; at least we’ll get started on it."

The board agreed that there should be an extended meeting or a special workshop to discuss the issue further.

A proposed partnership with ePropertyPlus was also on the CRA agenda. ePropertyPlus is a northern Virginia-based company that works with governments and land bank trusts to store and manage property data.

"It’s a larger scale of what Zillow does," Burleson said. "The best way I can kind of describe it is like you’ve got several file cabinets, and each file cabinet has different information on a property. This puts all that information in one compiled area that can be on the city’s website."

Many board members were skeptical of the need for the program, and expressed concern that they had not seen enough evidence that it would be beneficial. They requested more information on the project, specifically cases from other localities that have used the program.

Burleson promised to get more data for the board. She also stated that she believes the issue encompasses more than just the CRA, and asked for approval to present the proposed partnership to the city council.

Another item discussed was a recap of the city’s Christmas retail promotional program that raised money for the Crestview Police Department’s Christmas toy fund. The promotion involved the sale of coins redeemable for discounts on eligible items at participating downtown retailers. A total of $271 was raised in sales and donations, according to Burleson.

The city will continue to sell the promotional coins while supplies last; they retail at $5 for large coins and $3 for a smaller version.

This article originally appeared on Crestview News Bulletin: CRA board considers new gateway signs