Civic politicians near Edmonton are debating whether taxpayers should foot the bill to replace stolen bronze plaques from distinctive brick street markers with concrete ones. Strathcona County councillors will debate during upcoming budget talks whether to spend up to $160,000 to repair 24 markers in Sherwood Park’s Woodbridge Farms neighbourhood after 84 plaques on them were stolen in February this year. Coun. Robert Parks, who represents the ward that includes Woodbridge Farms, said at a council meeting Tuesday that residents have repeatedly asked for the signs to be replaced. The markers are a distinctive feature of the neighbourhood, established on the hamlet’s west side in the late 1970s. Parks presented a motion to discuss funding the work during annual budget talks, which begin next week and are scheduled to continue into December. “These weren’t simply directional signs; they were part of the character and identity of the neighbourhood,” Parks said. “They’ve been there for decades.” The proposed replacements would be made from engraved concrete. While the plaques alone would cost about $76,000, administration said repairing the brick pillars and straightening some of them could push the total cost to between $110,000 and $160,000. Parks said administration’s preliminary work identified five replacement options, including brushed aluminum signs at the high end, costing $290,000. He told CTV News Edmonton on Wednesday that commissioning new signs in bronze would come with a price tag between $300,000 and $320,000. “Given the problematic scrap value (about $15,000) and cost of replacement, we would never consider replacing the signs with new bronze signs,” Parks said in an email. Some councillors questioned whether all county taxpayers should pay to preserve a distinctive feature in one neighbourhood when most others use standard, and much cheaper, “blade”-style signs. Administration said blade-style signs cost about $100 each, plus a “minimal cost” for a post, but removing the existing brick pillars would add to the total. “It will take substantial effort if we were to do it in-house, so we would look at contracting it,” Kevin Cole, the county’s deputy chief administrative officer for infrastructure and planning services, told council, adding this sort of “major feature” would be, in some cases, the responsibility of a condo or homeowners association, but isn’t in this case. Administration also suggested councillors could consider a local improvement tax for homeowners in the area to play for plaque replacement. The nine-member council voted unanimously to debate the proposal during budget deliberations. “It’s an interesting dilemma that we have in terms of maintaining neighbourhood character as things inevitably break or get damaged,” Coun. Mike Derbyshire said. “At what point is it the neighbourhood’s responsibility? At what point is it the county’s responsibility?”
