We need a bigger Welcome mat!

Isn't it nice to come home every night? When I see the Flower Mound sign on FM2499 near Old Gerault, coming up from Dallas, I feel like I'm back on hallowed ground. But I've lived here 10 years, and I know how great this place is.

But we don't sell it very well. In particular, we miss a great opportunity to welcome our visitors at our front door. A little green sign (Flower Mound pop 59,000) and an out-of-the-way, hard-to-see mounment sign (at some other Town entrance points) don't cut it.

You know those signs you see when you're blowing past a small town on a two-lane highway? You see the "Welcome to Springfield" (or wherever) sign, and then you see a lot of little signs that tell you about some of the institutions in that town - the Rotary Club, the Kiwanis, the Baptist Church, 3A state champs-1999. Sometimes they're tacky and rundown, but I still like them you get a sense really quickly what's important in that town.

I'd like us to consider something of the same sort that would look totally classy and polished, and would help us sell our Town at the point where our visitors first see us. Perhaps a message board with big events coming up. Perhaps some facts and figures about the Town. Perhaps instead of one sign, you employ the old BurmaShave sign strategy, with several mini-signs stretched out one after the other along the road.

We need to put our best foot forward at our Town entrances. Even if people are driving 55mph, we still want them to see and remember something special about this Town as they're driving in.

Update 5/29: Received this nice e-mail from friend and council member Paul Stone.

A sign? You got it!

A while back the Town received a beatification grant from TXDoT or from the COG (I forget which) that will be used to cover up the lift station that is on the west side of 2499 (near the golf course). A nice sign is included.

By copy of this email, I'm asking Town staff to give you the details.

Thanks Paul! I'll post more here when I hear more.

Update 5/31: Received this kind reply from a Town engineer.

A Flower Mound entry monument is planned to be installed at the southwest corner of FM 2499 and Enterprise. The monument sign will be accompanied by landscaping and a berm that will further serve to screen the Town's lift station and surrounding chain link fence. This project is funded through a Statewide Transportation Enhancement Program grant through TxDOT. I do not have an exact timeframe for completion, but the design plans are approximately 95% complete and have been submitted to TxDOT for their review. Please let me know if you have any additional questions about this project.