Somehow, after a very lengthy discussion, the agenda item failed to get a vote.

Mark Brown and Barbara Pelot made various motions to postpone or delay the vote for 30 days on behalf of Lamar. The reason given was that the recommendation on the table (Option C-2 as recommended by MPC, which was basically the 2 for 1 billboard swap on the interstate only) was determined to be problematic legally. Which was not really news, both Lamar and Scenic Knoxville have asserted that there were legal problems with that option since before the MPC voted on it, but Lamar needed a good reason to delay because they weren't sure of their votes.

Barbara Pelot said she had received over 200 emails on this issue and she didn't think we ought to rush into anything without further consideration. She made a motion to postpone for 30 days.

Mark Brown said we should convene another task force to study the issue some more and see if we couldn't work out a compromise that wouldn't cause legal problems. He made a motion to send it back to MPC.

Thanks to Rob Frost, Joe Hultquist, Chris Woodhull, Bob Becker and Marilyn Roddy, who tried to drive a stake through the heart of this monster. They were ready to vote it down I think, but there was a lot of push back from the others.

I think it was Rob Frost who said they'd discussed and dealt with digital billboards more than any other issue except the budget and made a reference to a scene in the movie Animal House where the pledge has to thank his tormentors for the whack on his posterior with a board, and ask for another one please. A small moment of levity in mostly tense discussion.

Bottom line was they decided not to decide. At least not tonight. After the two amendments above failed, nobody was willing to make a motion on the original item. So it died without a vote and they moved on to the next item on the agenda without doing anything.

The net effect is that the billboard companies get another at-bat. But so does Scenic Knoxville. And so do you.

City Council's dilemma is that this is a very sticky issue.

On the one hand they are hearing loud and clear from ordinary people and the neighborhood groups that they don't want digital billboards. They're blinding and they're ugly, and they're energy hogs, and the digitals just make their intrusiveness 1000 times worse. The thing about billboards is -- nobody likes them unless they are making money from them.

On the other hand, Lamar has already sued the City of Knoxville over digitals, which is currently ongoing and awaiting the outcome of this vote to proceed or not, and besides they just gave $100,000 for a new skate park.

I think City Council would love to get rid of this hot potato, but it looks like it's going to drag out a while longer. I don't think there is any way Lamar is going to let it just die, so we'll be doing it again soon.

If you sent an email to City Council - thanks so much. We'll probably ask you to do it again, since the record starts all over if it is brought back up before Council.