The Jennings City Council voted Tuesday to move forward with a nearly $600,000 historic district street sign replacement project despite some residents questioning the cost.

Some residents raised concerns about prioritizing the project over other city needs, including raises for first responders, but the council accepted bids for the project.

Initially budgeted at $650,500 to change all street signs in the city, the council accepted the second lowest bid of $559,146 from Darran Construction of Ville Platte. The lowest bid of $487,750 from Traffic Commander of Metairie was rejected due to non-acknowledgement of an addendum.

“The low bidder did not acknowledge receipt of the addendum, so therefore we cannot legally accept his low number, even though he is right in line with the engineer’s post analysis, which is what we budgeted for,” Mayor Henry Guinn said. “Because of that procedure technically, we’re forced to pay roughly $100,000 more than what we anticipated.”

The extra $100,000 could have gone for the signs for the rest of the city, he said.

The sign replacement project was put on hold in July after the bids came in too high. The lowest bid was $637,165 ,which was outside the budget forcing the council to decline the bid.

Additional costs and procedural issues have continued to increase the project cost, Guinn said.

The project calls for replacing 280 signs in the city’s history district, costing about $1,900 per sign. The historic district runs from Cutting Avenue to Cary Avenue and from Shankland Avenue (Hwy. 90) south to Jefferson Street.

The signs are similar to those in Woodworth off U.S. 165 in Rapides Parish.

Cost of the project includes removal of existing signs, temporary signs and barricades, mobilization of the contractor, type of signs, posts, decorative assembly and construction layout.

The new signs are part of an ongoing citywide beautification project, according to Guinn.

“The prettier and cleaner your town is, the more people will invest in it,” he said, adding that it is critical to invest in the historic district.

Concerned resident Angela Lehman questioned how the city could afford signs that are nearly $2,000 each  for a certain section and still have other sections that do not have any signs or have old signs.

“That’s a lot for signs and that’s a lot when we have so many other priorities,” Lehman said. “…We have other mandates that we have to meet, but let’s prioritize because there are a lot of mandates so that when we do something that’s optional, like place signs in the historic district for $2,000 each, those are the kind of things you weigh.”

Concerned resident Allison Fruge asked if the money could be used for the other needs of Jennings.

“It’s half a million dollars,” Fruge said. “That ’s very exorbitant, and $2,000 per sign. I know we have to have more needs. We can’t pay our first responders more. Our firemen and police officers need raises. Could that half a million dollars not be used for the benefit of our first responders or for some other big need that Jennings has?”

“I appreciate the cosmetic aspect of it. I want to beautify Jennings because I think it is a beautiful city, but I also think we have to prioritize, and I know our firemen and first responders have been waiting a long time for a raise. I also know the mayor and council will receive a raise in 2025 and our first responders and firemen will not.“