By Rich Palzewic
Staff Writer

DE PERE – The De Pere Common Council unanimously approved entrance sign replacement in the city at its Tuesday, Aug. 18, virtual meeting.

Fox City Sign was awarded the bid for $21,828, with additional funding of $3,828 coming from the operating supplies account for promotional branding.

De Pere has five existing decorative signs located at various entrances to the city that will be replaced because of their age and weather deterioration.

It’s also the intent to replace the signs with the new city branding logo.

The city budgeted $18,000 for the replacement of the signs.

Alder Amy Chandik Kundinger asked why the most expensive option was chosen instead of the low bid.

“We had three options to choose from, so was there any thought of being more cost-effective with our choice?” she asked.

Alder Jonathon Hansen said it’s in the best interest of the city to have the signs stand out and be bigger.

“Nice signs can help in the branding of the city and for marketing purposes,” he said. “It can help recruit and maintain businesses and residents. It will have long-term dividends, even if it’s slightly over budget.”

In other action, the board approved the low bid from Alliance Construction for $153,918 for the construction of a Legion Park restroom building.

The budgeted amount was $135,000.

The Board of Park Commissioners requested an additional $35,818 to cover the costs of the construction and consulting fees.

“My concern is we have several projects over budget where we keep automatically defaulting to unassigned reserves,” said Alder Dean Raasch. “We might need the money for other projects down the road.”

Marty Kosobucki, parks, recreation and forestry director, explained why the project was over budget.

“There were two reasons for the overage,” he said. “Normally, we work with our engineering department to coordinate such a project, but with their workload, we were unable to. We were forced to obtain a consultant to do the project manual and preparation work for us. The city also wanted family-style restrooms. Essentially, we had to add on to the restroom facility and make it bigger.”

Raasch and Alder Kelly Ruh voted against the proposal.