Reversing an earlier decision, Gurnee officials have agreed to let Warren Township High School erect a changing electronic-sign at the entrance to its O’Plaine campus that had been a gift from a recent graduating class.

Last month the village board turned down the school’s request to put up a board illuminated with light-emitting diode lights. That decision came after a stalemate in which board members could not agree on the length of time before a message could change. Such signs are typically not allowed because they pose a distraction to drivers.

Several board members at the earlier meeting said they could support a minimum length of time between changing messages of 15 minutes. But the request had been for 10 minutes.

Trustee Stephen Park was among the board members who wanted each message to stay lighted longer. This week he asked Trustee Greg Garner to amend his Oct. 17 motion that called for a 10-minute minimum.

“I think it was a good project, but I didn’t support the earlier motion,” Park said.

The longer time period demonstrated the board’s responsibility to the Plan Commission, as well as village residents, Park added.

In addition to driver safety, the Plan Commission had denied recommending a variance to allow the LED panel on the school sign because of concerns that flashing lights would be a nuisance to neighborsl.

A gift from a recent class of graduating seniors, the 11-square-foot LED sign has the ability to flash up to five different messages containing two lines of copy for a length of five seconds to 99 minutes.

The village board will review the decision in six months.