Woodstock to get new sound system for Square, locks in price ahead of tariffs

Woodstock is getting a new sound system on the Square, approving a purchase to get ahead of new tariffs.

The city’s vendor for the sound system, Thompson Electronics, had agreed to hold the quoted price through Tuesday, May 20; otherwise, the city could have had to spend an extra $5,000 on the system due to “federal tariffs,” according to city records.

Woodstock looked into getting a new sound system in 2023, and the City Council approved a contract in 2023 with a $23,300 price tag that only covered the design of the new system, not the system itself.

However, the project was placed on the back burner after the project lead left the city and the new person focused on tasks related to the renovation of the Opera House. The sound system replacement was reprioritized after people complained about the sound during the Lighting of the Square last holiday season, according to city records.

The new city employee had experience with sound systems and was able to work with vendors on designing the new system at no additional cost to the city, according to city records. That led the city to cancel the agreement signed in 2023 and enter into a new agreement with Thompson Electronics for the system instead.

The contract comes with an estimated $69,350 price tag, which the city will fund from savings after not having to replace the police department generator and savings from a security surveillance project on the Square that is expected to come in under budget, according to city records.

Council member Tom Nierman said it would be a much better system and the city was saving money. Council member Natalie Ziemba said she couldn’t wait to see it “and hear it.”

While city records indicated complaints at the Lighting of the Square prompted the push for the new sound system, Woodstock Willie’s prognostication of an early spring brought thousands to the Square the morning of Feb. 2.

Council member Bob Seegers said he was in the back of the Square by the Opera House during the Groundhog Day festivities but couldn’t hear anything anyone was saying. He said the new sound system project was “long overdue.”

“I think we’re going to satisfy a lot of citizens for one of the lowest-cost budget items we’ve ever approved,” Seegers said.

While Woodstock got out in front of the tariffs, it is not the first city to have moved on a project to do so. McHenry bumped up the purchase of decorative street lamps on Main Street to get the order in before Trump administration tariffs hit. If McHenry had waited on that purchase, the city could have paid an extra $34,000; the pre-tariff cost was $137,000.