No Nutting: Missing street signs worry town elders

By Scott Merzbach
Staff Writer

Published on February 20, 2009

For most residents, the common link between the words Gaylord, High, Potwine, Nutting and Phillips is that each has a street named after it.

For the Department of Public Works, the words represent the five neighborhoods from which street signs are most likely to disappear.

"Those are the big five," said DPW Superintendent Guilford Mooring,

Though those who take street signs may think they are just causing minor mischief, and perhaps putting a conversation piece in their home, Senior Center Director Nancy Pagano said there is potential danger in their actions.

Pagano said she was recently notified by two senior citizens living in the area of Fearing Street and Nutting Avenue that when the Nutting sign went missing, a PVTA van driver had difficulty finding their home.

For the couple, who rely on this form of transportation and suffer from health issues, this raised the concern that emergency responders might also have trouble getting to their residence.

"It could really have a terrible result," Pagano said.

The Nutting sign, in fact, has been reported stolen three times since September.

Police Capt. Michael Kent said some of the fear of the residents is probably unfounded, as police officers, firefighters and paramedics are familiar with the town and are trained to know where streets are, whether the signs are in place or not.

But Kent said he also sympathizes with the concerns some senior citizens have expressed to the Council on Aging.

"Even though it won't affect the way we respond to calls, if it adds another level of stress to their lives, it is an issue," Kent said.

For people with health problems, Pagano said any confusion or slow down in emergency response could mean the difference between life and death.

She notes that for several years the Seniors and Law Enforcement Together Council has provided visible house number signs to residents for $5 donations.

"For several years, we've been working hard to install house numbers for people," Pagano said. "It doesn't do a lot of good if you can't find the house."

Kent said police will arrest anyone found carrying signs because it is considered theft of public property.

For the DPW, replacing signs is a constant. Mooring said the department is typically notified by police or neighbors about missing and damaged sides, and then work orders are given to the employee who makes the signs.

Each sign costs about $50 to make, with the posts about the same cost. Total labor time is usually two to three hours to replace each sign.

Over the last three years, a total of 67 street signs were reported missing. Sometimes this means just the sign, while other times the entire post was gone.

On occasion, some signs are returned, found in dormitories at the end of a semester or during a police responses to incidents.

Last week, for example, police recovered a speed limit sign from an Allen Street home where a loud party was taking place.