After wrangling over the location and design of an Apopka welcome sign, the City Council on Wednesday, July 5, voted 3-2 to not fund the design of the sign that would have been located on the northeast corner of Vick Road and Old Dixie Highway near Apopka Elementary School.
City staff had negotiated with CPH, Inc., a Sanford company, to provide architectural services, including design development, construction documents, landscaping design, irrigation design and civil design along with construction contract administration for $24,800.
The negotiations were done through the Consultants’ Competitive Negotiation Act (CCNA) process, a public procurement method allowed under state law for architectural, engineering, landscape architectural, surveying, and mapping services.
When asked about the location that is just a block from the intersection of U.S. Highway 441 and State Road 451, Mayor Joe Kilsheimer said the site near Apopka Elementary is shovel ready.
“The city of Apopka owns this right-of-way,” he said. “Other locations in the city where we might potentially put ‘Welcome to Apopka’ signs are places where we would have to either acquire right-of-way or get it by eminent domain.”
Commissioner Kyle Becker wasn’t questioning the design of the sign as others were, but wanted it located nearby.
“I have no problem with the design and I liked it during the visioning process and wouldn’t be opposed to it, but that location seems kind of odd to me quite honestly,” Becker said. “If we put it a block south at the intersection of 441 and 451, obviously, that makes more sense. To me, this needs to be at a gateway to our city and that location (Vick and Old Dixie) is not a gateway to our city.”
Jay Davoll, the city’s public services director, said the logistics of putting the sign at U.S. 441 and SR 451 is difficult due to the Florida Department of Transportation owning that right-of-way.
“We used to have several (welcome) signs,” Davoll said. “They’re no longer there, not only because of the changes in right-of-way but because of the guidelines they have now where if a car were to go off the road, they have a zone to come back. Getting these types of signs in the right-of-way is getting more and more difficult, especially in DOT rights-of-way.”
Commissioner Doug Bankson said he didn’t dislike the design of the sign, but that it didn’t reflect Apopka.
“I think it’s a nice design; I just don’t think it completely reflects who we are as a community. It feels like someone who said, ‘Tell me about you and I’ll design something for you’ who really doesn’t know you,” Bankson said.
The proposed sign was designed by Keith & Schnars, the company that completed the vision process for the city in 2015.
When the City Council adopted that visioning report, the welcome-sign design was part of the packet.
Learn more about what happened at the Wednesday, July 5, Apopka City Council meeting by picking up the Friday, July 7, issue of The Apopka Chief.
