Addressing the issue of addresses

Pine Haven’s council has been working on the issue of ensuring the installation of a uniform residential address system throughout the municipality for several years, including contacting homeowners who employ illegible or no house numbers.

The governing body has sought the property owners’ attention to this needed addition, to no avail.

“So if we don’t put numbers up there,” Mayor Karla Brandenburg summed the situation up, “it isn’t going to happen.”

The purpose of the address plaques is to provide police, fire and ambulance a quick and comprehensive view of house and property numbers in the event of an emergency.

After considering remaining options, the town chose to follow the example set by many municipal and rural communities wherein the governing entity sets their own address signs within the easement, thus creating a uniform and highly visible address, enabling first responders to find their destination quickly.

The town already has the numbered signage and are now looking at the kind of post to show the property number clearly to drivers from both directions approaching ingress. Quotes on the cost of a couple types of post have been gathered, according to Councilman Rob Nolan, who reported at a recent workshop, “They’re basically one and a half or two-inch square; bare metal [will be] just under $7000 and galvanized will be about $12,500.”

A higher expense than initially anticipated, according to the mayor.

Though the price of the galvanized posts is higher, Nolan assured his fellow council members that maintenance and longevity makes this the better choice in the long run.

“We do need to get this moving,” opined Brandenburg. She plans to work with the fire department to create a “game plan” from which the job can be carried out in a timely manner.