BY HANNAH SHARPE

Newsroom Intern

Aberdeen residents will have the chance to voice their opinions on new emblems for their town in the coming weeks.

At its work session Tuesday, the Aberdeen Board of Commission-ers discussed various ways to get public input on signs after Glen Nocik, of Nocik Designs and American Classic Signs, presented eight revised options to the board.

The board is consulting Nocik to find better ways to emphasize the unique qualities of Aberdeen. Nocik presented six different options for town emblems that incorporate symbols of the town at the board's work session April 29, and revised them after receiving suggestions from board members.

Planning Director Kathy Liles plans to get more suggestions about the signs from other boards and Aberdeen residents after the Board of Commissioners narrows the choices down from eight to five.

A link to the options will soon be available on the town's website, www.townofaberdeen.net, so that residents can view the options, vote on the ones they like best and comment on them.

"People can choose which ones they like best," Town Manager Bill Zell said. "Hopefully, we can narrow it down to two or three that people really like."

During the meeting, board members questioned the purpose of the brand and asked if the emblem is supposed to replace the town's current logo.

Liles said that the emblem would link the town's economic development to the public and emphasize the reasons why people come to Aberdeen.

"The focus would be more on economic development rather than identifying Aberdeen as a town," Liles said. "We're identifying Aberdeen as a destination."

Liles added that other towns, such as New Bern, use separate logos to identify their business communities.

The board also considered housing rehabilitation loans for the Bethune Street Community Block Development Grant project.

Ray Manieri, of All American Associates, asked the board to consider housing rehabilitation loans on two homes, one for $56,350 and another for $54,740, which will come out of the $850,000 grant.

Since the town received the grant in 2008 to rehabilitate six houses, install sewer lines and improve streets and drainage, several changes have been made to the project in order to accommodate the wishes of the homeowners and to remain within the grant's conditions and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development standards.

Manieri plans to have final numbers for rehabilitation of five homes on the street in a new project budget for the board to approve June 21.

For its upcoming meeting on June 14, the board plans to hold a public hearing for an ordinance that will adopt a new annexation agreement with the village of Pinehurst. The 20-year agreement, which renews the last agreement made in 1990, delineates which areas either entity can annex in the coming years.

The board will also hold a public hearing on the 2010-2011 budget at the June 14 meeting. The board plans approve the budget at a special meeting June 21 at 5:30 p.m.

Also, the board scheduled a special meeting to discuss the Downtown Retail Overlay District on June 22 at 5:30 p.m.

Contact Hannah Sharpe by e-mail at hannah@thepilot.com.