Contract Awarded for Welcoming Signs

A contract worth a little more than $43,000 was awarded by the City Council this week to an Ontario-area company to manufacture 10 monument signs from nearly 6 tons of plastic collected by the community.

The signs, which will welcome visitors to Fountain Valley, will be placed at key points around the city limits.

The council Tuesday night approved a contract with Environmental Specialty Products to construct the monument signs.

Councilwoman Laurann Cook said the 4-by-7-foot signs will be a “nice memento for all the residents.”

Mayor George B. Scott said the signs are “another example of Fountain Valley doing something innovative.”

The plastic collected from the community will be converted into “plastic lumber,” the base material for the royal blue, black and white signs that will bear the slogan: “Fountain Valley . . . A Nice Place to Live.”

Susan Lynn, the city’s environmental programs manager, said recyclable plastics were collected over the 11-week “Great Fountain Valley Bottle Roundup,” a campaign that encouraged residents and schoolchildren to participate and recycle.

Lynn said 5.6 tons of plastic are needed for the sign project. Any leftover material will be used for other plastic lumber products.

Lynn added that 80% of the plastic collected came from recycling drives held at the city’s elementary and middle schools.

The signs will be paid for with a $23,650 grant from the state Department of Conservation and a city contribution of $20,000.

Delivery of the new signs is expected in early July, and installation by city landscape crews is set to be completed by mid-August, Lynn said.