Woman upset with roadside memorial design

A Winnipeg woman is disturbed by the city'sdesign fora permanent roadside memorial toher best friend.

Michelle Golebiowski wants to place a personalized plaque at York Avenue and Donald Street, where Amanda Frizzley died almost two years ago.

Frizzley, 26, was killed early on the morning of Sept. 30, 2007, when the tow truck she was driving was hit by a sport utility vehicle being driven at high speed the wrong way down a one-way street.

Steven Watkins was sentenced to 30 months in prison in January 2009.

"It was devastating," Golebiowski said about Frizzley's death. "She was as close to me as a sister."

Golebiowski wants to put up a permanent memorial at the scene, but the city's preliminary design is for a plaque with the person's name, date of birth, and date of death.

Golebiowski calls it "morbid."

"Who wants to walk downtown and see a funeral placard?" she said.

Not far from where the permanent marker would go is a temporary one set up by Golebiowski. It includes a ribbon decal that says "Mandy."

After Frizzley's death, tow truck drivers in the city put decals on their trucks as a tribute to her and as a reminder of the devastation caused by drunk driving.

Golebiowski wants the permanent marker to feature the ribbon design.

"I definitely think the city should take under consideration what the people want to see put up. You know, for every person, every vehicle that drives by right now, you know they could be reminded of maybe slowing down or they could be reminded of not drinking and driving," she said.

In March, Golebiowski helped convince the city to allow permanent markers.

She did that after a civic committee approved a new policy in January to restrict roadside memorials to 90 days and one square metre in size.

After hearing criticism about the proposal, city council in February delayed their vote on the matter so as to have a second look at it.

In March, the committee came back with a proposal for a 120-day limit on the memorials, with the size limitation still in place. When the matter was finally settled by council, the length of time the temporary memorials could stay up was set at one year and a size of one square metre.

But council also allowed for a permanent marker, designed by the city and described as a "discreet band that can be marked with the person's name and date of passing."

The city is still working on the design template for permanent markers and an official said the drawing presented to Golebiowski is only preliminary.

They are hoping to come up with a design that will satisfy Golebiowski. Meanwhile, she is hoping it can be ready for Sept. 30 the second anniversary of Amanda's death.