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Sidewalk review sought: Wapak councilor favors revisiting policy regarding installation of sidewalks |
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Tuesday, 22 December 2009 |
By WILLIAM LANEY
Managing Editor
With the rescinding Monday of a resolution passed in February, a city elected official says he hopes this spurs discussions to resolve a sidewalk dilemma in Wapakoneta.
Wapakoneta City Council members Monday voted to rescind a resolution calling for the installation of sidewalks throughout a part of Grandview Estates since funds through the “Safe Routes to School” grant covers the cost to install sidewalks on one-side of city streets. The federal grant dollars are administered by the Ohio Department of Transportation.
Earlier this month councilors passed an ordinance to seek $500,000 in “Safe Routes to School” grant money which would include installing sidewalks west from Wapakoneta High School and Wapakoneta Elementary School to the Defiance Street and into Grandview Estates as well as through Bramblewood Estates.
Wapakoneta 1st Ward Councilor Jim Neumeier welcomed the news and wants to see a review of city policy spearheaded by 4th Ward Councilor Dan Graf, who chairs the Streets, Alleys and Sidewalks Committee.
“What I would like to see done is for Dan to set up a subcommittee and schedule a meeting with city people, property owners who have sidewalks, property owners who do not have sidewalks because it is the whole assessment issue that has to be hammered out and straightened out,” Neumeier told the Wapakoneta Daily News after Monday’s meeting.
“Homeowners will not be assessed for the Bellefontaine Street project and I don’t think they were for the Defiance Street project, but they were assessed for the East Benton Street project so inequities abound,” he said. “I don’t have a problem with an ordinance calling for people to fix their sidewalks that are in disrepair, but when it comes to areas where there are no sidewalks such as in the Flower Streets than I do.”
A group of residents in the “Flower Streets,” or Grandview Estates which is located west of Grandview Plaza, filed a civil lawsuit July 10 with Auglaize County Common Pleas Court seeking an injunction to the installation of sidewalks. The property owners objected to the assessment process because they argued the sidewalks did not increase the value of their property.
A two-day jury trial is scheduled for Jan. 19 and 20.
City Law Director Dennis Faller said he will continue to prepare for the trial because the plaintiffs and their legal counsel must decide if they will drop the civil lawsuit, “but it would appear with the repeal of the resolution that the issues that are pending in court are moot.”
Faller said he also understood Mayor Rodney Metz’s and council’s decision to rescind the resolution.
Metz continued his stance on the subject which is to avoid an overlap of the two sidewalk programs. The city’s assessment program and the Safe Routes to School program.
He said he works to administer policy established by council and welcomes new ideas.
Neumeier said he would like the city to move forward with a workable plan.
“We need to sit down and come up with a workable plan,” Neumeier said. “If the city is bent on having sidewalks on every street and on both sides of the street then somehow the city is going to have to share in the cost of putting them in.
“Once they are in, it is the responsibility of the property owner to maintain them,” he said. “I always thought it was appropriate to put a fee on a bill to the residents as a funding source because we don’t have enough money to get everything done and we are not in a position to get everything done. I also don’t think we should be forcing people to come up with the money to put in sidewalks.”Sidewalk review Sought
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Last Updated ( Wednesday, 23 December 2009 )
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