The Aberdeen City Council, by a 5-4 vote, approved a concept designed by artist Tim Girvin to replace the Wishkah River Bridge sign welcoming motorists to the city.

Liz Ellis, Scott Prato, Debi Pieraccini, Joshua Francy, and Sydney Swor voted “yes,” while Kacey Ann Morrison, David Gakin, Carrie Hubbard and David Lawrence voted “no.”

“Despite impassioned pleas from the public over many weeks, the Aberdeen City Council voted 5-4 tonight to approve the proposed Wishkah River Bridge sign design recommended by the Aberdeen Arts Commission,” Morrison posted to Facebook after the Wednesday City Council meeting. “Many public comments were received in person and via email. I also compiled a document with all social media comments to date, links to other art and online discussions, as well as the online petition making the rounds — and submitted them to the council, mayor, and staff.”

After receiving submissions from eight artists in resonse to a request for proposals (RFP), the city’s Arts Commission evaluated each proposal against 10 specific categories detailed in the RFP including: artistic merit and originality; relevance to Aberdeen’s identity; public appeal for residents and visitors; artist qualifications; long-term durability; completeness of the submission; cultural and community sensitivity (including Quinault Indian Nation heritage); family-friendly visibility; innovative day-and-night readability; and alignment with the city’s long-term vision.

After a first-round review on May 1, three finalists refined their concepts. On May 14, the Arts Commission re-evaluated the updates and selected a concept created by Tim Girvin. The council tabled a vote on the design on May 28 and then asked for public input on June 12.

The city is using a $15,000 Lodging Tax grant to pay for the new sign, with $2,500 allocated to Girvin.

“Other artist submissions responsive to the Request For Proposals were not considered, refreshing the current sign was not considered, results from the public poll were not considered, and only briefly was going back out to RFP discussed but not meaningfully considered,” Morrison wrote. “Given the other artist submissions and the scores of other truly artistic designs sent to me and posted on social media recently, I felt it appropriate to ask to revisit/restart the RFP process. Council opted for a vote on the proposed artist, which did pass.”