TREMONTON – By Jessica Tanner – Feb. 27, 2020
For several years Tremonton City has been actively working on improvements to draw people into the community and their most recent endeavor is big.
The city is updating billboards that are in desperate need of a new look and a way to welcome visitors to Tremonton.
Tremonton City owns two billboards along the I-15 corridor and one on SR-13. All three have a strong structure, but their sign copies are faded, outdated and do not represent Tremonton well, according the city. For that reason, city staff has been working with a sign company, YESCO, for their billboard makeover.
In February 2020, Tremonton City Manager Shawn Warnke provided the city council with a presentation on options and potential costs to update the billboards.
Warnke said in 2016 the traffic counts on I-15 showed there were 20,000 vehicles a day or 7.1 million vehicles annually. The traffic counts on SR-13 were 6,800 vehicles a day or 2.4 million annually.
Seeing the importance of better utilizing these signs, Tremonton budgeted $130,000. The city has received a $20,000 grant from the Box Elder County Tourism Tax Advisory Board. As a partner, the county would like recognition on the billboard with their name or logo. The Box Elder Chamber of Commerce will also participate by paying $5,000 for their sign copy on SR-13 (southbound).
In collaboration with these entities Tremonton has created a marketing message that promotes local businesses and encourages increased spending from out-of-state individuals and locals, which would allow the city to capture an increased sales tax, restaurant tax, and room tax.
For the billboards on I-15, Tremonton has proposed targeting to get motorists off the intersection to use city services and bring revenue and business into the city. A similar idea is proposed for the SR-13 billboard, but encourages people to turn onto Main Street.
An extruded aluminum sign cabinet that is internally lit was proposed for SR-13. A flex face material would be used to print the sign copy, which is expected to last about 10 years. The sign cabinet could be reused multiple times. For the signs on I-15, an image would be digitally printed to new ACM panels and mounted directly to the billboards’ existing sign face.
The estimated cost for these billboards is $40,000 for the one on SR-13 and another $20,000 for both I-15 billboards. YESCO would also paint and tune up the sign structures. Updating lighting on the I-15 billboards is not included in the bid, but would be part of the work, which is about $5,000.
If installation issues arise for the SR-13 billboard, such as YESCO needing to rent other equipment or get the power company to de-energize the power lines that hang near the sign then there would be additional charges. YESCO workers believe they can perform this install with their equipment when the ground is dry and compact.
The Tremonton City Council agreed that this was a necessary improvement and passed a resolution allowing city staff to continue their efforts with YESCO. They also discussed the importance of having updated gateway signs.
Those will cost additional money and are a long-term project, but the council was encouraged to consider the city’s vision and what those signs would serve.
