The four-year-old sign welcoming people to Belmont at Ralston Avenue has been removed and will not be replaced because thieves continue to steal the 13-inch aluminum letters.
The letters L and M were stolen from the sign at the corner of Ralston Avenue and El Camino Real near in front of Blockbuster. The rest of the sign has been removed and the letters will not be replaced because it would cost between $7,000 and $10,000.
"I'm seeing a problem I never anticipated," Councilman Dave Warden said.
The "gateway sign" was installed in 2000 at the cost of $20,000. Each letter is 13 inches tall and made of aluminum with a "blackberry bronze" powder coat. They were mounted to an irregular stone wall in front of Blockbuster on the northern end of Ralston Avenue.
A year later, a similar sign with "Belmont Village Center" was installed across the street for $13,227. None of the letters there have been removed.
The company that designed and installed the signs could not replace the missing letters because they no longer do business in Northern California. The company recommended JC Graphix to replace the letters at the cost of $1,255. In all, the city spent more than $7,100 replacing the letters.
At last count I, O, N and T were missing, said Warden.
Despite the welcoming look and feel of the sign, the council could not justify spending an additional $10,000 to replace the sign if the letters could be stolen again. Instead the holes where the letters were mounted will be filled and will not be replaced until a better and theft-resistant design is presented.
If the city were to buy letters "off the shelf" at the cost of $15 each, the entire sign could be replaced for $300. However, the letters would not match the "blackberry bronze" coating, according to a city report.
The decision to ax the sign clearly hurt most of the members of the City Council who liked the gateway to the city.
"It was a nice idea. It was classy," said Councilman Dave Bauer.
However, the sign did have its opponent.
"We could have used the money for something else," Councilwoman Coralin Feierbach said. "Why should we have it in the middle of the city anyway?"
The remaining letters might be given to the Chamber of Commerce or auctioned off to raise money for the city's new library.
Dana Yates can be reached by e-mail: dana@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106. What do you think of this story? Send a letter to the editor: letters@smdailyjournal.com
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