Selectman eyes fence as source of revenue

SAUGUS-The stockade fence at the high school has long been a bone of contention but some are now wondering if it might be a revenue source as well.Selectman Michael Kelleher said he planned to ask Town Manager Andrew Bisignani to look into the possibility of selling ad space on the Route 1 side of the fence.”It’s a great idea, but I don’t know if we can do it,” Bisignani said.Bisignani said he would have to seek an opinion from Town Counsel John Vasapolli as to whether using the fence for advertising would violate any town bylaws.Superintendent Keith Manville said it likely would violate a town bylaw and it might even violate a state law. Manville said he was not sure if billboards could be erected on state property. Bisignani argued that a banner along a fence might not constitute a billboard.The entire issue may come down to semantics and property lines, but Kelleher said he feels the issue is worth pursuing.”With state cutbacks in aid I don’t think the state should have an issue, but they may,” he said.Kelleher said a number of years ago he bought space on the billboard on the Main Street/Route 1 overpass.”That cost $12,000 a month to advertise on, and that was a long time ago,” he said. “What do you think we could get for the fence?”Kelleher said while the fence isn’t in driver sightlines as the overhead billboard is, he believes it’s still prime advertising space.”If we could get half, say $6,000 a month,” he said. “That’s a lot of money.”A lot more because Kelleher said he envisions selling as many as 10 spots on the fence rather than one long banner sign.The stockade fence runs the length of the high school property line. Its goal was to block sight of students on the field for gym classes or team practices, however, that aged fence has lost some of that ability.Vandals and typical highway abuse have plagued the fence over the years and a variety of boards are missing or broken.There has also been a long battle over the years between the state and the town to repair or replace the fence.Manville said it’s been made clear to him that the state will no longer put any money into the fence. That job is now up to the town.Bisignani said the town recently put a lot of money into repairing the fence.Manville said if the town truly wants to pursue advertisers it might want to consider putting up the money to replace the fence altogether. While a chain link fence would be cheapest Manville said town officials might want to take noise into consideration as well.”They might want to look at putting in a permanent noise barrier like the state is putting in along Route 128,” he said. “To me it makes the most sense . . . and, once it’s up, it’s up.”If the word from Town Counsel is good, Manville said town officials would also have to think carefully about whom the advertising markets to. The advertising would go on the highway side of the fence, but it would still be representative of the town and the school.”Obviously no beer or liquor,” he said. “And Coca-Cola is already in question, getting flak for having scoreboards in all the gymnasiums and being a sugary drink. It’s an interesting concept but there are a lot of questions to be answered.”