WILMINGTON, MA — Wilmington Town Manager Jeff Hull and the Wilmington Board of Selectmen are not interested in supporting a proposal by Logan Communications to locate a double-sided 14’x48′ electronic billboard along Route 93 in Wilmington, at 65 Industrial Way. The issue was discussed at last night’s Selectmen’s Meeting.
Under the proposal, Wilmington would have received an initial annual “linkage” payment of $100,000, with a $5,000 increase every five years, bringing the value of the 50-year agreement to $6.125 million. Wilmington would also be given 10 hours of billboard messages to promote the town of Wilmington and various school, town and community events and causes. The State would also get 15 hours a month to utilize the billboard for state-wide public service announcements, as well as public safety messages and amber alerts.
“While the so-called linkage payment and opportunity for limited free public service messages on the billboard are an attractive benefit, in my opinion, the benefits are insufficient to outweigh the negatives,” says Town Manager Hull.
“Electronic billboards do not present the image that Wilmington is seeking to promote,” says Hull. “Preparing modifications to the current zoning by-law to permit such signage while confining it to the Interstate 93 corridor would be very challenging. While the proposed agreement offers a guaranteed payment for 50 years, there are many questions about the likelihood of such payment continuing for the duration of such an agreement.”
“I agree this [billboard] is not in the character of the town,” said Selectmen Chair Mike Champoux. “We’d be giving up too much to get too little… Thanks, but no thanks.”
“We don’t need to sell ourselves. We’re not in dire financial straights,” said Selectman Mike McCoy, who also argued that the giant electronic billboards may cause safety issues with drivers taking their eyes off the road.
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