Signal contract renewed, clerk apps still sought

by Nathan Arneal
Published 8/26/26

North Bend’s contract with Signal Security for ordinance enforcement was up for renewal, which brought some discussion before it was ultimately passed 3-0 at the Aug. 18 council meeting.

Councilman Ken Streff asked if the services provided by Signal were costing more money than when the city used to depend on the sheriff’s department for ordinance enforcement.

“I know when we first started this we thought we could make it pencil out instead of being another tax burden,” Streff said.

City clerk Theresa Busse said four years ago, before the deal with Signal, the city was paying the county $8,000 a month for sheriff’s services. Now the city pays $4,325 a month for the sheriff contract and $2,238 for Signal, adding up to $6,563.

Busse and mayor Rod Scott said the city felt like it was not getting its money’s worth when it solely used the sheriff’s department.

“We’re paying Dodge County twice as much as Signal and Signal does a hundred times more for us,” Busse said.

Councilman Alex Legge said without Signal, the city would return to its previous method of having the city board of health drive around and note ordinance violations and nuisances.

“If we don’t have Signal,” Legge said, “then the new mayor and a couple councilman and the clerk are all going to be back on the nuisance committee driving around looking at this stuff. It’s not a fun thing to be on. (The public) comes right after you. That’s the worst board you can be on.”

Busse said Signal is much more effective and saves the city a lot of time and effort in clearing nuisances.

The contract with Signal was renewed on a 3-0 vote. Councilman Waylon Fischer, who works part-time for Signal, abstained.

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