CPC considers bronze plaques, PVC panels and a QR-backed sign template to mark completed projects

The Community Preservation Committee devoted significant discussion to a multi-site signage program to identify and commemorate completed and ongoing CPC-funded projects.

Committee member Ellen circulated mock-ups showing bronze plaques for historic-preservation projects and PVC panel designs for recreation and open-space sites. The CPC debated whether to adopt two standard styles (bronze for historic, PVC for recreation) and whether to buy a small inventory of temporary signs for projects that are not yet closed out. Several members argued in favor of a brief, historically minded sentence on bronze signs — for example, language similar to existing South Union School signage: “Restoration of the South Union School is made possible by the residents of Southborough and the Community Preservation Fund.”

Practical questions dominated the discussion: who will pay for installation (DPW or the project sponsor), whether multiple projects at a single site need consolidated language to avoid sign clutter, how invoices would be charged to multiple project accounts, and whether to include QR/URL links to detailed web pages. Grant and others offered to contact contractors (Franklin Bronze, Signarama) and project sponsors (library trustees, police, fire, recreation, historical commission) before the next meeting to finalize language and locations.

The committee agreed to prepare language for a set of priority signs and to order both temporary and select permanent plaques once applicants sign off and installation logistics are confirmed. The group also discussed standardizing sign language in future applications so installers and sponsors are identified at the start of each project.