Politics & Government

Napa To Revise Construction Permits on Message Boards After Obscene Posting

City officials will have codes changed on locks to message board after incident on Soscol Ave.



Napa City officials say they will tighten up rules regarding message boards on construction contracts after a prank offensive posting last week on Soscol Avenue.

"We'll have to put something in to require contractors to change the codes on the locks to the message boards when they finish the job," said Mark Tomko, Napa senior civil engineer in charge of the construction division.

Tomko said he will recommend the changes in the wake of a prank electronic message board posted Thursday night on Soscol Boulevard southbound in front of the Dodge dealership.

The sign, which had offensive sexual references, was posted somewhere around 7 p.m. but was taken down within an hour after the city's public works department was notified by Napa Police Department at about 7:40 p.m.

A maintenance supervisor for the city contacted Tomko, who said he sent an email to Pacific Properties Group, developer of Napa Crossing, a retail project currently under construction further south on Soscol at the old Ford dealership across from the Black Bear Diner.

Tomko said the sign was down by 8:15 p.m. Thursday. The prime contractor on the job for Pacific Properties Group is Tilton Construction Inc., Tomko said, but he had no word if one of their workers were responsible for the prank.

Several Napa residents posted comments on Napa Valley Patch Facebook page about the sign -- some finding it funny, others somewhat shocked.

Tomko said this is the second time such an incident has occurred. The last one was several years ago, he said.

"We'll probably add something to the project spefications or the contract language regarding the lockbox on the message boards and that the code needs to be changed," he said.


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