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- Mona City looks to replace welcome signs at city boundaries
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By Myrna Trauntvein
Times-News Correspondent
Three new Mona City welcome signs will be created at the entrances to the city.
The entrance signs now in use are approximately 20-years old and are not only in need of being replaced but no longer mark the proper boundaries to the city.
Mona City council decided to use stone and metal to make the new entrance signs and assigned Molli Graham, city council member, to arrange to get the rock to the city and make other arrangements to redo the entrance signs.
"We will need to haul the rock for the signs and we need three," said Graham.
She is over the city beautification committee and that group would like to see the signs replaced as would council members who have discussed what to do about the signs and have assigned Graham to find out what would be the best material to use and what would be a cost the city could afford.
"What about metal signs?" asked Jeff Smith, council member.
He said the cut metal signs were sturdy and, he thought, less expensive than the engraved rock that the council had first considered.
Graham said that if the metal was used, she preferred to use natural metal rather than powder coating. She did not mind the rustic look and it would be easier to maintain the surface.
Allen Pay, city water operator, said that the county landfill had at least three large rocks of approximately five-foot by 10-foot that could be obtained by the city just for the cost of hauling the rock to the city entrances from the landfill.
"We just need to pick them up and clean them," said Graham.
Those who did rock engraving, however, would need the rock hauled to them since they did not travel to do the engraving work.
Pay said the rock was not sandstone but was much harder and would withstand the elements. It was more like granite.
"I like the idea of rock," said Frank Riding, council member, "because this whole town is made of rock."
The metal cutouts might be used to decorate the rocks rather than having them engraved.
"Perhaps you could put lights behind the metal and enhance the cutout from the back," said Pay.
He suggested that the Juab High School shop students might be able to do those cutouts in a large enough size to be used on the rocks and might do the work less expensively than a commercial metal artist.
Signs vary in price depending on the weight of the metal. Mild steel is the cheapest, then aluminum, then stainless. Thick material costs more, cuts slower and weighs more and If a sign has a lot of detail or cutting in it, it will cost more than a basic sign.
The current entrance signs are made of masonry and the identification part of the sign is covered with plexiglass. The plastic material has not held up well.
Jeff Smith, council member, said he liked the idea of using the metal cutout sign on top of the rock as an overlay. He suggested that the city might use LED or, perhaps, they might even be able to use a solar powered light to enhance the sign.
He also liked the idea of using rock because it could be picked up and moved if it ever needed to be relocated.
When the original entrance signs were built and installed in 1996, the city was smaller than it was at present. Several annexations in the past 20 years had changed the size of the city and put the entrance signs well within the borders of the current city limits.
Graham said that she had called many places that provided engraved rock and found that it was completely out of the price range of Mona City.
"Getting the rock and having it sand blasted would cost anywhere between $10,000 and $14,000," she said.
One nice thing about using the rock from the landfill and using the metal cutouts was that there was zero maintenance involved, said Smith.
Graham said that Riley Park, owner of Park N Pump, had donated a piece of property where the entrance sign on the east could be located.
Another sign would be placed at the north entrance and a third at the south entrance to the city.
Graham showed examples of cutout signs that she had obtained as samples of what could be done. One featuring a pioneer family with a handcart was popular with the council.
"I like the pioneer one," said Greg Newton, mayor.
Not each sign needs to be the same, said Smith. He said the council could choose three different designs, one for each city entrance.
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