Mohave Valley Daily News By Rodd Cayton July 19, 2017
BULLHEAD CITY – Out with the old, in with the new.
The Bullhead City Council on Tuesday approved an agreement with Lamar Advertising that will bring a new digital billboard to the west side of Highway 95, between Riverview Drive and North Oatman Road.
As part of the terms, the company will remove an older, standard billboard from a space near Riviera Boulevard and Plaza Drive. With each new billboard placed within the city, an older one will be taken down, City Manager Toby Cotter told council members.
The agreement for the first sign states that the city will receive at least $10,000 a year in rent. Cotter said the amount paid to the city, which will be based on advertising revenue, is expected to be higher.
In addition, he said, the city will get one 8-second message per minute on one side of the billboard, and access with which to put out the word about local emergencies.
Cotter said the first sign will be aesthetically pleasing with a brick facade.
The agreement is for 15 years, with a possible 10-year renewal built in.
The parties had been working on an agreement for some time, Cotter said, but were hampered by state regulations prohibiting electronic billboards on state highways in most areas of Arizona.
Gov. Doug Ducey this year signed into law a bill adding part of Mohave County to the places in which the billboards are permitted.
Mayor Tom Brady asked that Lamar be required to provide financial information to keep the city abreast of how its payment is calculated.
Lamar representative J.J. Tilley said the city will receive a monthly update, per standard company policy.
Also approved was a lease-purchase agreement with Mesa-based Empire Machinery for a new Caterpillar 950M loader, to be used by the public works department.
The total amount financed is $265,280, for a five-year term. At the end of the lease, public works director Pawan Agrawal said, the city will have the option to buy the equipment outright for about $99,000, sign a new lease or not continue.
The loader will be used at the wastewater treatment plant, to move sludge into dump trucks.
The council also voted to renew the agreement for the police department’s participation in the Gang Immigration Intelligence Team Enforcement Mission State Gang Task Force, the final plat of the Ridge at Fox Creek, and related documents.
During his report, Cotter said that the city’s partnership with Contemporary Services Corp. for safety on the Colorado River is going well. He said that local public safety agencies have plans in place to deal with issues arising from “proposed river floats,” the second Saturday in August or at any other time – an allusion to reported plans to stage a mass float on the day on which the Bullhead City River Regatta formerly took place.
The city council voted last fall not to bring the regatta back for 2017.