BYRNES MILL: The term "snipe signs" may not be familiar to everyone, but the items the phrase represents surely are.
      Byrnes Mill Alderman Grant MacLaren of Ward 2 has started his own campaign to rid his city of what he considers to be nuisances and is urging his fellow aldermen to join him in a resolution condemning snipe signs.
      He brought several he had taken down to the Nov. 5 Byrnes Mill Board of Aldermen meeting, saying he had removed 32 signs in the two weeks prior to the meeting.
      "Snipe signs are anything illegally posted," MacLaren explained. "We have an ordinance against them. I want them out of sight. A good term for it is litter on the streets."
      Snipe signs can advertise anything from get-rich-quick schemes to more legitimate activities. The subject matter of the sign does not matter as much as the fact that the signs should not be posted in the first place, especially in right-of-way areas, MacLaren said.
      "Apparently, the posters know their items are nonconforming with the law," he said. "They're illegal and they know they're illegal."
      MacLaren proposed a resolution to the rest of the board members that would encourage the formation of a citizens committee to remove illegal signs they view in the city.
      "It's they've got the right to put them up, we've got the right to take them down," he said.
      The motion died for lack of a second. However, other aldermen said they support MacLaren's quest, only wanting more information before they vote on the resolution.
      Mayor Terry Oberer agreed that snipe signs are a problem, but said the problem is not merely in the city.
      "They're all over the county," the mayor said. "So, it's not just Byrnes Mill."
      A motion to table the matter to a future meeting was approved.
      MacLaren said he had heard of the city of Arnold starting a program to get volunteers to take down snipe signs and plans to attend an Arnold seminar on the subject.
      "What I'm really trying to do is raise awareness," he said.