Gurnee approves school message board

Gurnee village trustees have reversed an earlier decision and now will allow Warren Township High School to install an electronic message board off O’Plaine Road, a proposal which initially drew opposition based on concerns over driver safety.

Late last month, Gurnee Mayor Kristina Kovarik broke a 3-3 village board tie and thwarted a proposal for the sign’s messages to change every 10 minutes. The plan returned to the village board last week, with trustees voting 6-0 in favor after school officials agreed to rotate the sign’s messages at 15-minute intervals instead of 10.

Village officials will review the board’s performance in six months as a condition of the approval.

Trustee Steve Park raised concerns about the original proposal for a shorter time frame between messages, and questioned the idea of having electronic messages in an area busy with teenage pedestrians and drivers.

But Trustee Greg Garner disputed the concern over potential distractions.

“Kids are texting while they’re driving,” Garner said. “Parents are texting while they’re driving. They’re probably not even looking at the sign.”

Gurnee’s advisory plan commission voted 5-0 against recommending approval of a special-use permit that Warren High needed for the message board. Plan commission members questioned the need for the sign and raised concerns about driver distraction.

Jeff Brierton, principal at Warren’s freshmen-sophomore O’Plaine campus, said there hasn’t been a sign outside the school for about three years. He said the light-emitting diode component of a new double-sided ground sign will allow Warren to enhance event promotion and better inform the general public about student success.

“I feel very strongly that my kids deserve it,” Brierton said at a village board meeting late last month.

The message board, a gift to Warren from the senior class of 2011, will be inside a roughly 11-square-foot cabinet, he said.