GUELPH – The process of replacing rural property address signs across the county is continuing.
In September, Wellington County council approved a recommendation authorizing staff to budget for the replacement of all current rural green property signs, with the exception of intersection signage with green property signs that include the approved municipal road name.
A staff report from Wellington County emergency manager Linda Dickson outlined the project proposed for 2020.
“There are 36,319 address points in the county; of these, 13,508 are four-digit address points (property numbers greater than 1000). The proposed capital project is to replace all 13,508 four-digit rural green signs across the county with a new green sign that includes the applicable road name,” the report states.
“This does not include green signs in urban/hamlet/settlement/recreational areas that were numbered based upon a local council decision as part of the original project. All existing green signs in these areas will remain as originally posted.”
Fire chiefs in favour
Dickson noted Wellington County fire chiefs are in support of replacing the signs through the county-funded project.
The signs were originally installed in 1994 as a rural addressing system for Wellington County aimed at providing consistent county-wide civic addresses.
In a previous report, Dickson indicated the increase in cell phone use and less reliance on landline 9-1-1 calls that include telephone and address information means the additional information on the new signs will be helpful for emergency services, public works and utilities that provide services in Wellington.
The 2020 emergency management budget includes $300,000 for the four-digit green sign replacement project.
The cost to physically remove and replace the existing four-digit rural green signs will be the responsibility of member municipalities.
County council received the report as information at its Jan. 30 meeting.
