A proposal for Clear Channel to implement several electronic signs and billboards in Jersey Village at no charge was given at the Jan. 21 City Council meeting, but no action was taken. The presentation was led by Lee Vela, vice president of public affairs, who said Clear Channel has targeted the sign located off the Hwy. 290 inbound frontage road near Jones Road, which lies within the Union Pacific right of way, to be replaced. The company would also replace the official Jersey Village message boards located throughout the city.

These electronic billboards and signs would be operated by Clear Channel remotely and display static advertisements or messages, which are required to change no less than every 8 seconds under state and federal law.

"[Digital billboards] really don't look much different than regular billboards," Vela said. "The brightness is controlled by light meters, so it is never over 0.3 foot candles. Each of our boards has a light meter that adjusts to ambient light, so as the ambient light changes, the light intensity on the board changes."

Clear Channel, which operates 15 digital units in the Houston area, also works with local officials and the FBI to display emergency script and photos in cases of natural disasters, Amber Alerts and wanted fugitives. According to the presentation, the signs in Jersey Village would also provide up to 35,000 public service announcements per year, which would be handpicked by city officials.

The Texas Department of Transportation changed the law concerning digital billboards in 2007 following a recommendation by the Federal Highway Administration. The change gave individual cities the right to decide whether to utilize digital signs that follow state regulations. After receiving the Clear Channel proposal, Jersey Village council members discussed the benefits and disadvantages of new billboards going up in their city.

"When [City Council] did our planning for south of the freeway, part of the discussion when we talked about billboards was letting the [them] stay the way they were so that eventually we would not have billboards within the city," said councilwoman Jill Klein. "I still say that I would rather [Jersey Village] not have billboards in any form."

Clear Channel proposes removing two square feet of every existing billboard space and replacing it with one square foot of digital space for a total of 2,688 square feet, which equates to about seven billboards—or 25 percent—in Jersey Village, Vela said.

"I'd like to see [the billboards] come down as much or more than anyone else," said councilman Harry Beckwith. "But the structures that are out there are not going fall down, and they are not going to come down anytime in the next few decades. The only way they are going to go away is if the company that owns them makes them go away. Also I haven't seen too many opportunities where anybody has come to Jersey Village and said, 'We're going to give you something,' and that's what makes it attractive."

A similar proposal for Clear Channel to implement electronic billboards was first presented to City Council in late 2011, but was voted down during the Jan. 16, 2012 meeting. Following Vela's presentation and a discussion among council members more than a year later, Mayor Russell Hamley requested another proposal be presented to City Council on a later date before a final decision would be made.