City still waiting for decorative signs

Banners ordered more than two years ago to add color to the now-complete Watertown streetscape project have not been hung downtown because they are too short to fit on the city's utility poles.

The top and bottom of each banner are supposed to attach to a pair of arms on the utility poles. Since the banners are too short, they will not reach both connecting arms.

The city has asked the state attorney general's regional office to help resolve a spat involving the contractor, Signtech Inc., Plessis, and the more than 40 businesses and nonprofit organizations that ordered the banners.

"We got the attorney general's office involved because there were so many parties involved, some of which were not-for-profits," City Manager Mary M. Corriveau said. "I believe the only reason we did get some action from the contractor is because their office was involved."

The city joined the Downtown Business Association, Flower Memorial Library and the New York State Zoo at Thompson Park to place an order of about $12,000 with the sign company in 2006 for the roughly 40 vinyl banners that were to be hung from light poles throughout downtown.

"We're just hoping that the company will get the banners done," Mrs. Corriveau said. "We want to get them up and promote downtown the way we originally intended."

The city said it received a partial delivery of the banners last spring, most of which were too short to hang on the poles. When the city complained that the banners didn't fit the utility pole arms, discussions between the company and city began to run dry shortly thereafter, Mrs. Corriveau said.

"With streetscape still going, we knew installing the banners would be on hold," DBA President Albert J. Romano Jr. said. "After streetscape was complete, we found out we weren't going to get the product on time. Those banners were supposed to go up by Memorial Day weekend."

The city has spent about $2,800 on the banners to advertise events and destinations within the city.

Some of the banners also will display the logos of some DBA-supported businesses. Those businesses have paid a total of about $4,000 toward the banners, Mr. Romano said.

Signtech co-owner Heather Gill said she is continuing to work on the banners. The company, she said, delivered a sample banner to the city Monday.

"This has been a long project with some misunderstandings and some hard feelings, but everything is still progressing," she said. "We're going to see if those work. Then there should be about a four-week time frame to get the rest of those done."

Mrs. Gill said the misunderstanding came from the initial measurements given to the company for the banners.

City Hall staff and Mrs. Gill are blaming each other for the measurement error.

"The banners came in at about 6 inches too short," Mrs. Gill said. "They were pretty close, but you can't move the arms, so that stalled us."

Mrs. Corriveau said the city will begin installing the banner arms on the utility poles next month.

Deanna R. Nelson, assistant attorney general in charge of the Watertown regional office, who is handling the city's complaint, was unavailable for comment Monday afternoon.