NORWICH – Mayor Joe Maiurano – at the conclusion of last week’s Common Council meeting – took a moment to remind city officials of an Oct. 19 presentation by Frankfort-based Edison Electronic Billboards, a brand name under Fiberdyne Energy. Proposed at the meeting – an electronic, LED billboard, which would be located on North Broad Street at the very edge of the city’s limits.
Advertising space on the two-sided electronic billboard would be sold by Edison to local businesses for $150 to $300 per month, and the city would have access to the billboard for the posting of announcements and upcoming events, and in case of emergency or any time city officials needed to get an important message out to the general public. In addition, Edison officials said their product can be of great benefit to local churches, schools and other educational facilities.
“We feel this has tremendous value to the citizens and businesses in Norwich,” stated Fiberdyne spokesperson James Jellose at the start of the October presentation, who added that such signs have been extremely successful in other communities.
City officials would have to be willing to enter into an eight-year contract with Fiberdyne for the electronic sign and Jellose stated that if the contract were not renewed at that time, the company would restore the land to its original state. Advertisers would contract rented space on the sign for a period of one year and the city would have contractual rights to veto certain advertisements which could be deemed inappropriate or offensive.
According to Maiurano, local residents and merchants to which he’s spoken are in favor of the project, which Fiberdyne officials said would come at no cost to the city, in exchange for use of city property. However, City Attorney Patrick Flanagan – at last week’s meeting – said he’d reviewed the proposed contract and had questions concerning Fiberdyne’s liability insurance.
Fourth Ward Alderman Walter Schermerhorn asked if any problems or accidents had been reported by other communities with such signs, to which First Ward Alderman Robert Carey responded, saying he’d seen first-hand the kind of distraction electronic billboards can pose.
No decision has been reached at this point in time, said the mayor, who added city officials will continue to review the proposal to weigh-in on the potential benefits of its construction. For more information on Fiberdyne Labs and Edison Electronic Billboards visit www.fiberdyne.com.