SOUTHWICK – The Board of Selectmen is moving forward on purchasing a “town crier” sign for the center of town.
The board agreed yesterday to vote on the electronic sign at its next regular meeting. Chairman Russell Fox said the sign would cost in the ballpark of $20,000, which would come out of the town’s Comcast account.
Chief Administrative Officer Karl Stinehart said the account Fox referred to includes revenues the town receives throughout the year as part of its Comcast contract.
“It funds Channel 15 and can also be available for other public outreach,” said Stinehart.
The sign would be used primarily for safety announcements, as well as community events and other notices also appropriate for the town’s cable access chanel, and would be located on College Highway near Berkshire Bank at the shopping plaza at the corner of Feeding Hills Road.
“The land owner, Mr. (Terrence) Welch, has agreed to an easement and Berkshire Bank is going to submit a letter saying that they will supply electricity to the sign,” said Fox.
The October 2011 storm sparked the discussion of the sign – which could run on a small generator if necessary. Shortly after the storm, which knocked out power to nearly all Southwick residents, Fox suggested that a town crier sign would have served as a communication device to residents. At the time, Fox said even though many residents had no way to access television, radio and telephones for emergency alerts, they could have driven by such a sign to learn of pertinent information.
Fox said the sign could be controlled via computer at Town Hall, which also has a generator, in case of a power outage.
Police Chief David Ricardi was in the audience for the discussion and told the board he thought the sign was a “superb” idea for Southwick.
