City council takes no issue with the growing presence of roadside advertising signs throughout Flin Flon.
“Technically we’re okay with it as long as [the signs] are within the regulations,” Mayor George Fontaine said.
“We have not changed our [signage] policy. If there’s an increase in signs, they should be within the existing policy.”
Speaking at last week’s council meeting, Fontaine said there is room to “double up” on signs in certain locations where they already existed.
In recent weeks, indeed years, the number of roadside advertising signs across Flin Flon has grown. There are now at least 30 signs in the community.
Coun. Bill Hanson said he hasn’t heard any complaints about the signs.
But the signs have generated concern among some residents frustrated by the frequent letter-rearranging vandalism that places obscene messages on the billboards.
Fontaine addressed that issue in 2012, calling the vandalism “offensive to the community” while stressing that the owner of the signs made every effort to undo the lewd messages whenever they pop up.
“Certainly we would encourage...the police to take every opportunity, when they catch the little miscreants that are doing that kind of behaviour [to], you know, push them hard, make them feel uncomfortable,” the mayor said at the time. “And parents, if you know your kids are doing this kind of thing and think it’s funny, it’s not.”
Fontaine said everyday citizens could help remedy the problem if they happen to be passing a sign bearing inappropriate words.
“Walk by and take a couple of letters off so it doesn’t say that word or those words,” he said. “People can do vandalism [but] good people can walk up and just say, ‘That’s not right’ and just move [the letters].”
