(by Alexa Libert, Staff Writer - February 10, 2010)
A discovery was made when Franklin Township road crews recently went street by street, taking inventory of its street signs.
“What we found was kind of astonishing really,” said Road Department Supervisor Jim Stevens during the Feb.4 trustee meeting.
There are approximately 40 street signs missing, reported Stevens.
The last inventory hadn’t been done since before Stevens held the position, he explained.
Most of the missing signs are “secondary signs” in neighborhoods, said Stevens. There were no major “Stop” signs missing or any other primary signs that could be potentially hazardous. Those would have been addressed immediately, he continued.
Stevens added that there is no exact way to determine what happened to the signs, however theft is suspected.
A resolution for $2,500 was requested and approved for the replacement of the missing signs.
“It’s a rather substantial amount of money,” said Stevens.
The signs should arrive in two to three weeks and installation would begin shortly thereafter, he said.
In the future, the road department plans to take quarterly inventory and has updated its log of signs and locations, he explained.
In an effort to prevent theft in the future, a new method of installation will be used.
In addition, all signs will be marked with a sticker which will indicate that they are the property of Franklin Township so that they may be returned if someone tries to sell them for scraps, Stevens said.
However, there is “really no definite way to keep them from being stolen,” said Stevens.
