There will soon be some new signage around the Ponte Vedra Municipal Service District after the district’s board of trustees approved up to $3,000 to update several signs in the area during its June 13 meeting.
The amount was deemed necessary for the project, which will include the design and installation of five “no parking” signs to be placed along Ponte Vedra Boulevard.
B&S Signs in St. Augustine was awarded the bid for the project by the board. The project will cost $236 per sign with an additional $75 installation fee per sign.
The project will also include adding “Welcome to the MSD” signage on the backside of the sign posted at the district’s entry near the Guana Reserve.
According to Trustee Mack McCuller, there is currently no message on that side of the sign.
In other news from the meeting, the board approved up to $1,000 for members of Kimley-Horn’s engineering staff to attend a future public hearing about the district’s sidewalk project, after Trustee Brad Wester proposed the idea.
According to Wester, the public hearing is expected to take place in late summer, but a specific date and time have not yet been scheduled.
The topic of whether the MSD needs to create its own police department was once again discussed.
“What we need is community involvement, which is something we haven’t had to this point,” Trustee Gary Jurenovich said.
Jurenovich proposed a plan to go forth with the creation of their own police department, which the MSD recently had in place from 1982 to 1990.
“I don’t think the people will be happy with just a two- or three-man police department,” MSD Chairman Al Hollon said.
Wester agreed with Hollon in that he did not see it as the right time to move forward with such a decision and thought that the increased number of traffic stops demonstrated the progress being made since entering their partnership with the Sheriff’s Office for additional off-duty officers.
“You can call them off-duty officers, but they’re not writing off-duty tickets,” Wester said. “I think a vote now is premature.”
Trustee John Cellucci questioned whether the MSD is getting the service the people in the district have come to expect over the years.
“The people I talk to say they don’t see the increased presence,” Cellucci said.
The decision was not put to a vote because vice chairman Kitty Switkes and Trustee Holly Kartsonis were absent from the meeting. It was tabled and will be put to a vote at the next meeting July 11 beginning at 5:30 p.m. at the Ponte Vedra Beach Branch Library.
A vote pertaining to Ponte Vedra Boulevard becoming part of the designated U.S. Bike Route System was also pushed to the next meeting.
