Church suppers are in, but religious messages are out.
That’s what Mapleton council decided during a discussion on policy for use of a new electronic community sign located at the PMD Arena.
The $18,000 sign was installed earlier this year in response to public interest and the availability of corporate donations covering all but about $6,000 of the cost.
At its April 23 meeting, council reviewed a draft policy setting out criteria for displaying messages on the sign.
The policy sets out priorities for use of the sign, with township emergency notifications and public service announcements taking top priority.
Special events held by community groups at Mapleton community centres are next on the priority list, followed by announcements from Mapleton minor Sports groups and community non-profit organizations.
The draft policy stated the sign is not to be used by “commercial organizations/businesses, individual messages, religious affiliations, special interest groups and political organizations.”
Councillor Jim Curry asked for clarification on the exclusion for “religious affiliations.”
CAO Patty Sinnamon said the policy, as drafted, would exclude events like church socials or strawberry suppers.
“I have a problem with that,” said Curry, adding, “I can see not putting on religious messages, but if someone has a strawberry supper or a church social, I think that would be the type of thing that we should be advertising.”
Mayor Bruce Whale said he felt the intent of the policy was really to not allow religious or political messages on the board.
However public works director Larry Lynch cautioned, “the sign is for township use,” and allowing announcements for churches could result in a large number of requests for inclusion on the sign.
Sinnamon suggested simply changing the list of ineligible sign uses from “religious affiliations,” to “religious messages.”
“So we can’t put ‘Merry Christmas,’ on the sign?” wondered councillor Andy Knetsch.
“Let’s not get caught up in the idiosyncrasies,” suggested Whale, adding the sign policy would likely undergo some evolution as issues arise.
“Let’s keep it as open as we can without getting too hung up on specifics, and let people know what’s happening in our community.”
Council agreed to approve the policy with wording changes to allow promotion of community church events, but not religious messages.
