Hamlets get counties council’s eye
L’ORIGNAL | They’re not big enough to be called villages and the folks who live in all the little hamlets scattered throughout Prescott and Russell counties prefer the “very small town” lifestyle these bedroom communities offer. A new signage project proposed at counties council may make these tiny communities a little more noticeable to casual passersby.
Champlain Township Mayor Gary Barton suggested during the August 13 committee of the whole session that the United Counties of Prescott-Russell (UCPR) follow the example of its counterpart in StormontDundas-Glengarry with the new highway signs provided for the hamlets throughout the United Counties of Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry (UCSDG).
“The signs are small and they are neat,” Barton said.
The highway signs for hamlets in UCSDG have room for the name of the community with space for a small UCSDG logo. Barton proposed that the UCPR look at doing something similar for the benefit of hamlets in Prescott and Russell like Ettyville, located within the boundaries of the City of Clarence-Rockland, and others.
“I think it’s a great idea,” said Marc Clermont, UCPR public works director.
He noted that his office and the counties economic development and tourism department could work together on a propos- al for hamlet signage on county roads. He also noted that some of the municipalities within Prescott-Russell already do provide small road signs identifying the hamlets located along their backcountry rural roads and his staff might need to consult with their counterparts among the member mu- nicipalities.
“I want to make sure we don’t double up,” he said. “But I think it’s a great idea if we want to promote our (smaller) communities.” Clermont will present counties council with a report on hamlet signage, including guidelines for what is a hamlet as opposed to a village or town. Warden Jean-Paul Saint-Pierre offered a suggestion, based on his childhood memories, about how to define a hamlet.
“Wherever there was a school house,” he said, “there was a little hamlet around that school house.”