In January 2017, the Town Council and Staff began the budget process during which a project to design a wayfinding sign program was discussed. The wayfinding project was approved as part of the Capital Improvements Program and was adopted with the final budget in June, 2017.

Wayfinding is defined as a way for citizens and visitors to easily orient themselves in a geographic area while navigating from place to place.

To start the process of creating a wayfinding sign program, the scope of the project was defined. In addition to directional signage, this program will also provide appropriate permanent locations for special event signs and more visible and visually-appealing designs for the gateway entry signs.

The consultant hired for the project will provide assistance to the town with selecting a vendor to fabricate and install the signs as well as provide oversight of the installation of the signs.

The Request for Proposals was approved by legal counsel and was advertised on Oct. 4, 2017 in local publications, on the town website and some larger state and national websites. The deadline to submit was Nov. 13, 2017. The town received three proposal submissions in response to the request for proposals. A team of staff and two local citizens was created to review and evaluate the responses.

Evaluation criteria were as follows: general information, experience and qualifications, key positions, project approach; project schedule, and pricing.

Based on all of the evaluations, two oral interviews were performed. Hunt Design Associates, Inc. scored the highest and Town Council awarded them the contract Dec. 2017, and the design process commenced on Jan. 18, 2018. Public meetings will be held during the design process so that citizens have an opportunity to give their input.