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Committee recommends sidewalk repair policy
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By CHUCK CLEMENT, Staff Reporter
| 03/05/2010 |
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Members of the municipal sidewalk committee reviewed and recommended the passage of a new sidewalk inspection and repair policy that the city engineer will present to the Madison City Commission later this month. On Thursday, Chad Comes, city engineer, presented the proposed policy to the committee that dealt with issues such as the types of sidewalk damage that would need repair, inspection schedules, repair notices and repair deadlines.
According to Comes, the new policy was created from sidewalk programs already conducted by other communities. He had contacted other South Dakota cities, including Sioux Falls and Yankton, to obtain information about their sidewalk repair policies.
Comes said that he wants to start sidewalk quality inspections this spring. The preferred deadline date for repair projects handled by landowners would occur in November 2010, but he proposed setting a final deadline for owner-conducted repair projects in August 2011. After the final deadline, the city would hire a contractor in the fall of 2011 to make any repairs. The city would later assess the property owners for the work.
Committee member Roy Lindsay agreed that it was important to "give the (property owner) a reasonable time to make repairs."
Jeff Lechner, another committee member, predicted that the sidewalk committee would receive many questions about the need to repair sidewalks damaged by tree growth.
"How is that going to be addressed?" Lechner asked.
Comes replied that tree damage will fall under the safety standards that landowners will need to observe.
"I can say that we'll work with you, but it does have to be fixed to follow our safety standards," Comes said.
According to Comes, the city would follow the principles of consistency and reasonableness regarding sidewalk safety standards.
Among the defects that property owners would need to repair are:
-- Vertical separation in which one sidewalk panel has risen more than 1 inch higher than another.
-- Horizontal separation in which cracks appear in the surface and grow wider than 1 inch.
-- Holes that grow 3 inches or more in diameter and 1/2 inch or more in depth.
-- Spalling, the condition in which the top surface of the concrete deteriorates and the subsurface is exposed.
-- Multiple cracking where the damage is greater than 1 square foot or the cracking creates a public hazard.
-- Missing sidewalk in which sections or panels are missing.
-- Ponding on the walkway where water collects to the depth of 3/4 of an inch or more.
Lechner noted that landowners would need to obtain a permit from the city to make any sidewalk repairs. He asked if the city would charge a fee for the permit. Comes said he didn't plan to charge for the repair permits.
According to Comes, the repair permits weren't established to collect fees from property owners, he said; instead, "It's an effective way to track what's going on."
Comes did say that other cities charge fees for their repair permits.
Lindsay recommended that the city increase the minimum depth from 2 inches to 3 inches for the gravel cushion that builders install under the concrete sidewalks. He said the deeper gravel beds help prevent damage to the concrete over time.
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©Madison Daily Leader 2010
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