Norristown Council hears CIP update, looks to revise sign ordinance NORRISTOWN >> Council members chose to revisit a sign ordinance to make it easier for proposed mural arts projects to move forward and heard several presentations at their Tuesday evening work session. Council unanimously supported a motion for staff to review and possibly make changes to the conditional use clause of the sign ordinance to allow for a less stringent process that is more conducive to mural approval. According to Councilwoman Olivia Brady, who researched Norristown's ordinance and compared it to those in neighboring townships, applicants currently must enter into an agreement with a mural artist and property owner, then fill out an conditional use application with the planning department, obtain a zoning permit, contact the municipal engineer, and a attend a planning meeting and a council workshop session for formal and final approvals. At Brady's suggestion, Council instructed staff to streamline the process and make it less onerous for people who would like to start mural projects in the municipality. Advertisement Municipal Administrator Crandall Jones updated council members on Norristown's Capital Improvement Plan (CIP). Jones began his remarks by pointing out that Norristown's AA- bond rating, announced last March, allowed the municipality to borrow at a premium, which resulted in $1 million in savings, which council directed to be allocated to two pension funds. Jones said administrators used feedback from last summer's community listening sessions to get feedback and suggestions on which capital projects to prioritize. He said about $2.3 million of the $8.4 million fund was spent on non economic development CIP -related projects which included the acquisition of facilities, renovations for Municipal Hall and the public works building, park improvements, and vehicles and equipment for the public works, code enforcement, police and fire departments. CIP investments also included $219,000 for information technology, computers, and wiring technology infrastructure and $46,800 for park improvements. In terms of economic development, acquisition of properties for redevelopment-related funds related to blight totaled about $1.5 million, Jones said. The municipality also invested in police vehicles, sweepers and a $1 million fire truck that's currently being built and is expected to be delivered this fall. Jones said a full accounting of CIP allocations will be available on the municipality's website shortly. Jones also reported that he and Municipal Engineer Khaled Hassan have been interviewing construction managers to identify the most cost-effective use of funds for renovations to the PAL center, which the township acquired last year. Hassan also addressed council regarding the progress on the plan to repair the 51 worst segments of road in the municipality, the first in a five-phase repaving and road improvement initiative. Hassan and his team spent nearly four years compiling a comprehensive detail of every road in Norristown for the five-year maintenance program. Phase 1 of the project is currently underway on Haws Avenue. Phase 2 of top priority street maintenance -- Swede Street from Lafayette Street to Wood Street -- is scheduled to begin soon, Hassan said. Hassan told council the condition of the roads is not determined by visual inspection only. Core sampling to a depth of 24 inches has been used to test sub-bases to provide the appropriate solution "because it's not a one size fits all process," he said. Jones said administrators worked with financial advisors to derive a model for leveraging liquid fuels funds to service the debt for the borrowing it took to do the first phase of the paving plan. "So we did that and it was a grueling process through the state. We could effectively borrow $3.5 million which is the cost to address all priority 1 roads. We started that process last year," Jones said In other business, Council heard a quarterly report from Retail Development Manager Deborah Carey about retail recruiting activities and a presentation from a SEPTA official about the anticipated economic benefits of the King of Prussia rail line, which will have a spur connection to the Norristown High Speed Line.