Fenton DDA Members, Residents Question Welcome Signs

Some Fenton residents and officials aren’t giving the new welcome signs a very welcoming reception.

Some Downtown Development Authority members expressed some concerns this week that the lettering is too small and the decorative aluminum tops weren’t the thick ones specified in the bid, The Fenton Press reported Wednesday.

“I think going to an independent third party to look at these signs and tell us if they’re done properly is the right thing to do and then we solve the problem,” DDA Chairman Craig Schmidt said about the signs' decorative top in the Fenton Press.

The DDA spent nearly $104,000 on the four large signs and several smaller signs, which were already taken down once to make the lettering larger, and more signs are planned in the future bringing the total cost of the signage of $275,000 to $300,000, the reported.

Many Fenton Patch readers posted their opinions of the signs on the Fenton Patch Facebook page.

Kristie Easler Trapp posted, “I think the signs are enormous, too close together, need something around the base to soften the concrete and the lettering is disproportionately small for the size.”

Patty Armitage Banner said, “Someone with a graphic arts background should have approved them. The font is too condensed on the larger signs and it makes the entire sign disproportionate.”

Others posted that they enjoy seeing the new signs.

“I like 'em!” posted Jessica Weston Haney. “A nice welcome as people arrive in downtown Fenton. And, you can't please everyone!!!”