BURBANK MAY SEEK VOLUNTEERS TO FIX POLES.

Byline: Mary Lou Aurelio Daily News Staff Writer

Faced with a $145,000 cost of repainting or replacing about 3,000 of Burbank's steel street-sign poles and 800 wooden traffic-sign posts, city officials have come up with an idea for a cheaper alternative: use community volunteers and young people in summer job programs to do the work.

The Burbank City Council is set to vote Tuesday on a pilot project that would use volunteers and youths to repaint and de-rust the posts and poles at a cost of $4,000 for supplies and administration.

``The residents have told me the poles are looking kind of shabby in front of their homes so we're going to make them kind of spiffy,'' said City Councilman Bob Kramer, who will request that the council consider the idea Tuesday.

The poles have been painted green and the posts white, and are more than 20 years old, said Erik Zandvliet with the city's Public Works Department.

The repainting is needed for aesthetic reasons, but also to prevent rust, Zandvliet said.

When one of the painted poles or posts is damaged or knocked over, it is replaced with a new galvanized steel pole, which resists rust and does not need to be painted, he said.

Zandvliet said that the city was faced with two options: have city staff repaint the 3,800 poles and posts or have all replaced with new galvanized poles. Either option was estimated to cost about $145,000.

It will take about two years to complete the project at an estimated cost of $2,000 per year. The poles would not have to be repainted for about seven to 10 years after that, Zandvliet said.