Lambton Shores promote brand & destinations

Lambton Shores hires help to promote its brand and destinations

LAMBTON SHORES — Hey folks, you are finding yourselves on the edge of a municipality that is on the verge of buying its way into the era of “way-finding” signs, relatively modern speak for those age-old devices that point us in the right direction or inform us that we’ve found what we’re looking for.

Lambton Shores council has agreed to hire consultants to search the territory from Grand Bend southward to Forest and Arkona, report how many times they got lost and suggest better ways of helping residents and outsiders find their way and recognize what they are seeing.

The municipality will pay $26,487 (plus tax) to Stempski Kelly Associates Inc., a.k.a. SKA Design, to dispatch its scouts from their home base in the Guelph area (Fergus-Elora) and develop and present to council, hopefully this spring, a draft signage master plan.

Community services director Steve McAuley defines SKA’s assignment in slightly more technical terms: “An existing signage audit of all outdoor community and way-finding signage; identification of way-finding needs/gaps; specifications for signs including types of signs, design, graphic standards and installation specifications; destination mapping for pedestrian map boards and signage location plans; and a project implementation plan including identification of priority items and budget requirements.”

McAuley says the intended goal is a master plan that: “Promotes the Lambton Shores brand at municipal and community gateways; creates uniformity for all outdoor signage across the municipality; and increases the awareness of and provides direction to municipal and local nonprofit attractions, facilities and services within Lambton Shores.”

The community services department chose SKA Design through a request for proposals process in which staff assess and rank submissions on the basis of project work plan, understanding and familiarity with the problem/issues of the municipality (50 per cent); consultant qualifications and experience (25) and quoted price (25 per cent). Staff scored SKA at 95/100, higher than 75/100 achieved by the only other applicant, Nova Scotia-based Sperry Design Inc. For the record, SKA’s price was $13.23 lower than Sperry’s.

A major advantage for SKA Design was that, in 2015, the firm completed the Ipperwash community design plan that McAuley said was completed on time and on budget. SKA has done numerous other projects in southwestern and central Ontario.

Lambton Shores taxpayers have already paid for the work with $30,000 allocated in the 2016 operating budget. That will be carried over without having any impact on the 2017 budget and tax levy, treasurer Janet Ferguson has confirmed.

Source: Lambton Shores hires help to promote its brand and destinations