Board balks at cost of pool signs

When it comes to the Hawthorn Woods Aquatic Center, it's time for economy, some trustees said at the village board meeting Monday.

"When do we draw the line?" Trustee Joanne Weick said. "I'm all for having everything look nice ... I just don't want to see another $25,000 expense added on."

Board members agreed to send back to the architectural review commission a proposal for two signs, totaling $25,000, at the pool's entrance. The $5.9 million pool project is approaching its budgeted totals, and village finance chief Nancy Caine told the board that including a deposit for the signs would leave only $44,593 in the pool's contingency account.

"What other business opens and doesn't put a sign out?" Mayor Keith Hunt said after Weick suggested postponing permanent signs.

Trustee Greg Gehrke said lighted signs for the pool entrance are necessary, especially as darkness arrives earlier.

"People are coming there from other venues," Gehrke said. "How would they find it at 7:30 on January 15?"

Trustee Neil Morgan said the cost is a concern given issues that are still outstanding with the pool developer. The village previously withheld money for the project, blaming the pool's late opening on mistakes by the developer, who disagrees and has suggested legal action may be in the future.

"It's just the whole unknown (of litigation)," Morgan said.

The board agreed to table the signage issue and send it back for architectural review so that a cheaper alternative might be found.

"It's appropriate to have something," Trustee Cliff Wright said. "Maybe we'll come up with something that will hold us over."