Oct. 26—ALTAMONT — Altamont City Council approved an ordinance Monday allowing businesses in the area to purchase signs advertising their company logo on the baseball diamonds at Gilbert Park.

The City Council has been considering the proposal to sell advertising at the park since the idea was brought up by Commissioner Dan Milleville at a meeting in June.

Altamont City Clerk Sarah Stephen explained the process.

"The sign application will be completed by a business, at which time they will select the location and the field they want," Stephen said. "The business will provide a logo. Then, the city will take it to the sign company to have it made, and then the business will reimburse the city for payment of the sign plus pay a $200 (annual) fee to hang the sign."

City employees will be responsible for putting up the signs at the designated locations in the park.

Advertising sign agreements with businesses will be annual, so they will have to renew the agreement every year if they want their sign to stay in the park. The agreement period will begin April and end March 31.

"The city will invoice the business annually. If they don't pay by April 1 the next year, their sign will be removed, and if they choose to not keep participating, they get their sign back," Stephen said.

According to Stephen, there will be a total of 32 spots available for advertising businesses to choose from with each of the four fields having eight available spots.

Commissioner Michael Walker requested that the various locations designated for the signs be identified and labeled to avoid any potential confusion.

Stephen said she is planning to have a picture of the diamonds with exact measurements for advertisers to reference when they make their selection.

Milleville was somewhat hesitant to approve the ordinance.

"I'm not 100% in support of the procedure, but because I'm a team player, I'm going to vote yes," Milleville said.

The council's next meeting is scheduled for Monday, Nov. 7.

In other matters, the council:

—Approved the execution of the Illinois Municipal Risk Management Association minimum/maximum contribution agreement and payment in the amount of $122,239.79.

—Approved an engineering service agreement with Milano and Grunloh Engineers for the design of Third Street sidewalk reconstruction.

—Approved motor fuel tax funds for the Third Street sidewalk reconstruction, not exceeding $67,000.

Nick Taylor can be reached at nick.taylor@effinghamdailynews.com or by phone at 618-510-9226 or 217-347-7151 ext. 300132.