City takes 'Mullet' to new heights

GREEN BAY, Wis. (WLUK) - It's the hairstyle Billy Ray Cyrus sported in the 1990s. It's inspired Web sites and books. It's also a type of fish. But in Green Bay, "mullet" is a street - although you may not even know it's there.

"We've gone through a lot of Mullet Place signs," said Chris Pirlot from the Green Bay Public Works Department. Pirlot said signs on Mullet Place disappear several times a year.

"My only guess is that people are still in love with the '70s and '80s when the mullet haircut was prominent. I don't know," Pirlot said.

The hairstyle is not where the street got its name. No one could tell us how Mullet Place got its name but we were able to find out that is has been a street in Green Bay for about 100 years. That's long before the mullet became popular.

While the hairstyle may not be popular anymore, the signs are. At one point, every single sign on the two block street, was gone. That frustrated some residents.

"When you tell somebody directions how to get to your place you gotta tell them it's the third road on the left because there's no sign to tell them how to get to Mullet Place," said Richard Fleischfresser.

The city's new solution: put the Mullet Place signs out of reach. Signs are usually about seven feet off the ground. The Mullet Place signs are about 20 feet off the ground. That's too high for some residents.

"There's a sign up but I didn't even know it was there because it's up so high. You can't even see it when you're driving past it," said Fleischfresser.

Pirlot said at $100 per pop, the cost of replacing the signs over and over again, adds up.

"We just hope that people realize that if they're going to steal things, whether they're owned by the city or anyone else, it costs somebody money," Pirlot said.

That somebody is the taxpayer.

Green Bay police say if you are caught stealing a street sign, no matter what the name, you could be fined at least $361 for theft plus $676 for criminal damage to property. It could also lead to criminal charges.