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<br />Regular City Council Meeting <br />October 22, 2007 <br />Page 3 <br /> <br />Carrie Taylor, President of Paris High PTO - reiterated Ms. Wall's comments and stated the <br />PTO investigated what other schools did prior to raising money for the sign. <br /> <br />Rhonda Rogers, representative for Paris High PTO - she said the sign ordinance would not <br />be good for businesses, tourism and the community. <br /> <br />Jeanie Kraft - stated that the signs were good for marketing, that Paris High School was going <br />to build a new school, and they wanted a sign with animation capabilities. She said they use the <br />animation to congratulate kids for their achievements. <br /> <br />Greg Parks, owner of Carpet World - he said the signs help businesses. <br /> <br />Gene Ray, formerly in the sign business - he said this ordinance would hurt the economy of <br />Paris, because it would stop people from coming to Paris. <br /> <br />Doreen Ruthart - she said they had spent over $30,000.00 for their sign and she opposed the <br />eight second rule. <br /> <br />Mayor Freelen said the Council had to make difficult decisions and those decisions do not <br />always make everyone happy. He went on to say that Council had asked the Task Force on Code <br />Enforcement to review and make recommendations regarding regulation of signs, and the Task Force <br />had submitted their recommendations. <br /> <br />Council Member Wilson said the Task Force spent an entire meeting discussing regulation <br />of electronic signs. He also said that staff had obtained information from six other communities <br />regarding their regulations. Council Member Wilson reported that some cities require longer intervals <br />and some cities had banned the electronic signs altogether. After careful review of the information <br />presented, the Task Force unanimously voted to move from fifteen second intervals to eight second <br />intervals. Council Member Wilson said CVS was running their sign in ten second intervals. Council <br />Member Brown stated he had a problem with no scrolling and the eight second interval. Council <br />Member Strathem stated he had a problem telling businesses how to use their signs, when they had <br />already made an investment for the purchase of their signs. <br /> <br />Mayor Freelen inquired when the State was going to make a decision on regulation of signs. <br />Kent McIlyar informed the Council that a public hearing was scheduled for November 28th at TxDOT <br />headquarters in Austin, Texas. He also informed Council that TxDOT' s proposed rules would apply <br />to electronic signs located on state highways inside corporate city limits, but that these rules would <br />not supersede the City's electronic sign regulations. <br /> <br />Citizens, City Staff, and City Council discussed at length grandfathering existing electronic <br />signs, providing for nonconforming signs, variances, animation, condensing of the displayed <br />messages, length of interval time between messages, allowance oflonger intervals for public service <br />announcements, and size of the signs. <br /> <br />..r rlr - <br />