Gloucester's new wayfinding signs cost $28,000 each, councilor says

On Thursday, Oct. 8, Gloucester's Budget and Finance Committee backed every money request before it, about $234,000 in all, with no votes against. Most of it is state money for the city's 911 center. The longest talk was about $12,000 more for new wayfinding signs, which one councilor said cost far too much.

The committee is three city councilors: Chair Scott Memhard, Vice Chair Tony Gross and Patti-Ann Page. It reviews almost every change to the city budget. It only recommends. The full City Council decides.

What the committee backed

• Gifts, $13,020. People gave $185 to the Archives, $2,785 to Cape Ann Veterans Services and $10,050 to the Council on Aging. The city must vote to accept a gift before spending it.
• State grants for 911, $198,619.25. Two yearly grants: $95,636.25 for training and $102,983 to help pay the police officers who answer 911 calls. Acting Police Chief Michael Gossom said those officers need 20 hours of training to be certified to give medical help by phone. Neither grant needs city money.
• Moving money, $10,323.57. Two transfers move money from the city clerk's budget to police overtime and shift pay for officers at the polls on the Sept. 1 primary. A transfer shifts money already budgeted from one account to another.
• Money from savings for signs, $12,000.

The sign debate

City Auditor Kenny Costa said the $12,000 was in last year's tourism budget. When that budget year ended, the city parked it in its main savings account so it would not be lost. This vote moves it back. Kelly Dolan, the city's chief administrative officer, said the signs are up and people like them.

Page read costs she said Dolan had sent her, from federal pandemic relief, two other federal grants, community development funds and tourism. With $17,000 for installation approved a few weeks ago, she put the total at $169,410. Costa agreed.

"$28,000 per sign," Page said. "I can't wrap my head around that." She called it "a well-intended project that somehow got out of control." She said it was not about blame, since the project spanned more than one city administration. She also called a sign in the middle of the boulevard "poorly chosen."

Dolan said she understood the concern.

A change to the fee rules

A city ordinance, which is a local law, says city fees go on a list called a fee schedule. It must be posted on the city website "and published in a local newspaper whenever fee changes or new fees are approved by the City Council." Gross proposed deleting the newspaper part.

City Clerk Grace Poirier said the city has not done that for years; the change matches the rule to practice. The city is working to post all its fees online. A fee written into an ordinance itself still needs an advertised public hearing to change. "That process is not changing," she said. Budget and Finance agreed, as did the Ordinances and Administration Committee on Oct. 5.

Also at the meeting

• A police request to use $1,800 of an earlier gift for recovery coach training was pulled at the city's request. It can come back.
• Costa reported 15 accounts had spent more than the council approved, $342,123.03 in all, down from his last report. Page called it "a big improvement" from January.
• A tax classification memo was continued to Oct. 22.

What happened next

The full City Council took up the committee's report on Tuesday, Oct. 13, and approved every money item in one vote, 9 to 0. That includes the gifts, both 911 grants, the police overtime transfers and the $12,000 for signs. The same night, the mayor reported a separate $132,000 state downtown grant that also involves wayfinding signs; the council sent it to committee for review. The fee rule change goes to the full council for a vote later. See every item on our Follow the money tracker.

How you can take part: The committee usually meets Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. Check each agenda for the room; the Oct. 22 meeting is in the Harbormaster's Conference Room, 19 Harbor Loop, and on Zoom (link on each agenda). Anyone can attend. You can also email the committee members or your ward councilor.

How we did this: Cape Ann Current watched the meeting online and checked names against the agenda and the board's roster. This story was produced with the help of AI tools and checked against the documents listed below. If you see an error, tell us at [email protected].