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Rolling Meadows City Council delays vote on electronic message sign

Rolling Meadows' new city council will decide if an electronic message sign will be installed on the far west side of town over the objections of neighbors.

A double-sided, 10-foot-high message board is proposed for installation at 2550 Quentin Road on a water pumping station site operated by the Northwest Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency.

The agency granted the city an easement for a 60-square-foot section of land where the sign would be placed, but the city council Tuesday night agreed to delay a vote until May 28, after new aldermen are sworn in.

The decision to postpone a vote follows a community meeting April 11 where most attendees spoke out against the sign, which would be adjacent to the backyards of three homes.

Nancy Mau, who lives on nearby Old Mill Lane and led a petition effort in opposition to the sign, thanked city officials Tuesday for agreeing to hold the April 11 meeting after the council first delayed a vote March 26. She also asked aldermen Tuesday not to delay a vote again, but to reject the easement outright "since residents are pretty much clear: They don't want the sign."

Residents like Mau have argued it wouldn't fit in with the aesthetics of the neighborhood, especially because of the light that would shine into backyards and could devalue those properties. Some also have said many cars are driving too fast down Quentin Road to notice.

The current council Tuesday night took the advice of the city staff, which recommended postponing the matter until public input could be formally presented to new aldermen during a committee of the whole meeting May 21. New aldermen will be sworn in May 14.

The council approved the purchase of the $39,185 sign on March 12, but after community opposition surfaced, the city held back the purchase order from the vendor. If aldermen decide next month not to install the sign on Quentin Road, it could be refabricated and placed at a different location in the city, officials said.

They picked that spot in an effort to better connect the western part of Rolling Meadows with the east. A city-produced handout for the April 11 community meeting noted "a real, or at least perceived, notion" that areas west of Route 53 are disconnected from the city's core; in fact, many homes have Palatine mailing addresses.

Rolling Meadows has nine entry markers, but the proposed message sign would be only the second message sign in the city. It would be in sync with the one outside city hall on Kirchoff Road, displaying public service announcements, emergency notices, community events and community organization news.

  A Rolling Meadows message board sign is proposed for this Northwest Suburban Municipal Joint Action Water Agency property at 2550 Quentin Road. But many nearby residents are opposed. Christopher Placek/cplacek@dailyherald.com
  Rolling Meadows officials have proposed the installation of a community message sign at 2550 Quentin Road. But neighbors have argued vehicles will be driving too fast to take notice. Christopher Placek/cplacek@dailyherald.com
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