by Frank Schroth

The Board of Selectmen deferred to the requests of a building owner, Jay Kennedy, over the recommendations of the Sign Committee last night in giving preliminary approval to signage for a possible Sleepy’s store.

The Sleepy’s store will move into the space previously occupied by Kennedy Carpet on Granite Avenue in East Milton. Jay Kennedy, owner of the building, is negotiating a lease agreement with Sleepy’s and was seeking approval of the Board of Selectmen for signage that would be part of that agreement. He was joined at the table with his attorney Frank Marinelli. Kennedy Carpet has a LED sign that faces out toward the expressway. That sign would remain and display either “Sleepy’s” or “Sleepy’s” with “The Mattress Professionals” underneath. Mr. Kennedy said that would not work as the point size of the font for “the mattress professionals” would not be readable. He lobbied to have two messages that would toggle at some defined interval. Chair Keohane supported the idea bit Members Hurley and Conlon did not. They want any LED display to be a single fixed display.

In addition, there would be signage on the face of the building that would be lit from soffit lighting. Again the tagline, “The Mattress Professionals” was debated. Due to size of letters Mr. Kennedy said the desire was to have the tagline expand beyond the width taken by Sleepy’s. This exceeds the sign guidelines recommended by the Sign Committee. They sought to have the overall size reduced slightly.  Member Hurley pointed out that the signage at other Sleepy’s locations was inconsistent (perform a Google image search on “sleepy’s the mattress professionals”).

Mr. Kennedy said the location of the building was unique. It sits in between on and off ramps and is distanced from the commercial district. “Nobody can find us,” he said. He claimed that Milton residents went to Weymouth store rather than Milton. He said he needed the signage to secure the lease and that Sleepy’s would be a good tenant and highly preferable to a vacant building.

Town Planner Bill Clark said any lighting would be a change from the Sign Committee’s recommendation. The Sign Committee wanted the LED sign taken  down. The Sign Committee is an advisory committee. Their recommendations typically go to the Building Inspector for final approval. Lit signs, such as the LED sign, however, require approval of the Board of Selectmen. The selectmen had approved the LED Kennedy Carpet sign some years ago.

Both Mr. Kennedy and the selectmen noted that having the building occupied benefits both Mr. Kennedy (rent) and the town (tax revenue). The selectmen approved the signs but will require the lights be turned off within an hour of closing. They did not make a formal motion, that will be done at their next session.

Other business included but was not limited to:

• A discussion of DOR recommendations. Member Conlon has asked that the DOR recommendations remain an agenda item so as not to have the document just “sit on a shelf.” They discussed the formation of an audit committee as well as a committee to review town bylaws. Conlon had spoken with the Chair of the Town Government Study Committee (TGSC), Rick Neely, who recommended the committee look at the audit recommendation in the context of a more comprehensive overview. The committee has not met recently as it is waiting on the appointments to the committee by the Town Moderator per an article passed at the last Town Meeting. Similarly, Ms. Conlon felt that discussion of the bylaws should be done in concert with the TGSC’s work. They will be taking up issues that may require bylaw changes (e.g. possibly changing Board of Selectmen from 3 to 5). Conlon noted that the only recommendation acted on to date from the DOR report is to move their meetings to Tuesdays.
• Signing of an MOU with MassDevelopment. The BoS authorized the Town Administrator to enter into an agreement with Mass Development to provide services in support of recommendations made by the Granite Park & Ride Committee. The committee is exploring revenue generating uses for the Dept. of Trnasportation’s Park & Ride lot on Granite Avenue. MassDevelopment would provide streetscape improvements and traffic analysis services. Town Planner Bill Clark noted that one possibility would be to have only a single south bound lane on Granite Avenue in order to afford better, safer use of the road by pedestrians and bicyclists. The road is heavily travelled but Clark noted that is mostly during rush hour heading north bound. The property has not yet been secured by the town. However, the effort by the committee is t be proactive rather than reactive. The committee is meeting this evening in the Baker Conference Room at Town Hall at 6:30pm. They have added a Citizen Speak agenda item and encourage residents with thoughts and suggestions for use of the property to attend and share them.