For months, area municipal leaders have been requiring residents to put up reflective address signs.
Local officials are calling the signs better for emergency response. But at least one local resident considers them to be a government overreach.
“I don’t think it’s right that they’re forcing people to do this,” said Bradford Township resident Fred Charlton, who approached The Era on the matter.
However, when emergency officials respond to a call at 2 a.m. to someone’s home, for example, it’s easier for them to find the right location, said Tina Yohe, who is managing the signs for Foster Township.
That was also the case in Bradford Township when police responded to a domestic violence call, Bradford Township Supervisor Gayle Bauer said.
“I think we’re happy with the progress we’ve made,” Bauer said.
Yet, Charlton said he’s not happy. He said he knows many people who are opposed to the ordinance, at least in Bradford Township, that requires properties to be identified by a vertical address sign. Specifically in that municipality, the sign must be at least 18 inches in height and 6 inches in width with a green background.
Of the some 3,000 signs ordered for township residents, fewer than 100 are left to be picked up at the township hall, Bauer said. Of the $20 cost in Bradford Township, the bolts, signs and posts amount to $18. The remaining $2 amount would go toward the Bradford Township Volunteer Fire Department.
Charlton said he doesn’t want to give his extra money to the township fire department.
For her part, Bauer said, “They’re (fire department) not going to get rich on it.” She added, “It wasn’t a money-maker. It was a public service.”
Charlton said he wishes that the address signs would not be mandatory. “It should be up to me to opt out of a sign,” he said.
However, a certified letter to those individuals who have not complied with the ordinance will be sent out in a few weeks. Those not adhering will end up paying a fine as well as the cost of the certified letter.
Overall, Bauer said very few individuals are against the sign measure.
“We’ve tried to make it as easy for them as possible,” she said, including making the fire department members available to put the signposts into the ground.
Meanwhile, in Foster Township, about 1,400 signs have been sold thus far. Yohe said she could not say how much money has been brought in, but said the profit would be used on an as-needed basis for new equipment for the fire department .
The township code requires a 4-inch number, not script. But having the blue signs in Foster Township would make it easier for emergency officials to respond to calls, township Police Chief Tom Munn said.
Most of the residents are in compliance, either with the blue signs or another sign, he said.
Munn said he figures around 95 percent of the township has followed the ordinance. In fact, he said about 60 percent of structures not previously in compliance are now.
“I need to go around and talk to individuals,” Munn said.
The cost for the signs in Foster Township is $15.
Elsewhere in McKean County, Lewis Run Borough is requiring reflective address signs be posted as well. The cost of a sign from the borough is $15. Thus far, Yohe said the borough has sold about 145 signs. The borough is enforcing a 2001 ordinance.
“It would be nice if other municipalities would do the same thing with the signs,” she said, adding the effort doesn’t just benefit fire departments. Any emergency official benefits from them, she said.
