At the regular borough meeting on Tuesday, September 10, John Rudolph, owner of Map Agency, presented his ideas for the borough’s logo and website design. Rudolph presented three designs: two modern ideas and one that is more traditional. He worked closely with Burgess Maureen Crick Owen to come up with ideas that represent the borough.

The designs were the subject of a lot of discussion between the burgesses, ultimately putting the website project at a standstill while Rudolph goes back to the drawing board to redesign the logo.

During his presentation, Rudolph said, “I built a lot of brands from the ground up, but I can honestly say I’ve never designed a logo for an organization that has been around for 200 years that doesn’t currently have a logo.”

Crick Owen explained the website as being the borough’s “town hall,” and that “this is a website that is our town hall for today, and for twenty years, forty years down the road. So, while yes, we are 200 years old, I also think that going forward is just as important … In my opinion, we want to also be forward thinking, not just ‘yes, we are historical.’”

Burgess Jim Gaston referenced The New York Times while also sharing his opinion of the design.

“The borough is not about modern stuff, it’s about the pristine, early American elegance. It’s about historic preservation … The third [design] of the three is probably the best design, but I think it’s going to be controversial. I think we’re going to have to get input on it,” Gaston said.

The design featured one star and five stripes in an abstract “n” pattern. Gaston asked, “Does that denigrate the American flag?”

Burgess John Madzula asked a great question, “How do we mesh traditional values, preservation, historic-ness, with advancing into modernization?”

Borough Treasurer Paula Brinkman said, “I like the third design,” though she was hung up on the one star like a few other burgesses.

Senior Burgess Chris Gardner said, “I kind of agree with the one star. It’s a little bit misleading, I know what you’re trying to do, and I like why you did that. I don’t know if maybe we could really try to incorporate that full flag, though.”

Warden Jay Maher echoed this point, “I, too, thought of Texas when I first saw it. And for me, I appreciate the effort here, and I don’t think you’re far off, it’s just a little progressive for me. It’s just a little bit ahead.”

The burgesses closed the discussion with Crick Owen saying because they were unable to vote on a design, the website target launch date will be postponed about a month. They moved to discuss American Rescue Plan Act allocations and sidewalk updates. The borough has approximately $33,000 left in unallocated ARPA funds.

C.H. Booth Library asked for $16,000 to replace the sliding doors at their side entrance. The burgesses put it to a vote, and it passed unanimously. Following the vote, Maher explained that drawings have been submitted to the State Department of Transportation regarding the Church Hill Road and Queen Street sidewalk projects. He is waiting to hear back about approval.

The burgesses briefly discussed 20 Castle Hill Road and the discontinuation of the Rochambeau Trail. Gaston wondered if the borough has any say regarding the discontinuation according to what is written in the charter provisions. Gardner added that looking into what the charter says about the borough’s command of roads may lead to more responsibility of road maintenance than they can afford.

Before the regular meeting of the borough, the annual meeting was held. They read their year-end reports aloud that highlighted each group’s contributions and achievements throughout the year. The reports were accepted as submitted.

During the regular meeting, not much was said about the stolen borough sign from the intersection of Castle Hill Road and Taunton Lake Road. In a brief interview after the meeting, Gardner told The Bee that “nothing official” has been done. Gardner is hoping the sign will be returned before the borough has to spend more money to replace it.

“We hope people come forward with a tip,” Gardner said, “We’ve had lots of people reach out to us lamenting this happening. It’s nice to know the borough has lots of fans and support.”

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Reporter Sam Cross can be reached at sam@thebee.com.