Mayor Ray Skotarczyk, along with other Marine City commissioners, are in the process of developing a sidewalk replacement program that would bill residents for sidewalk repairs. (Melissa Wawzysko | Times Herald)
By Tony Wittkowski | Local Government Reporter | The Times Herald
MARINE CITY – Officials want to fix crumbling sidewalks but haven’t figured out how to pay for it.
City commissioners are discussing an inspection and replacement program in which the city would repair hazardous sidewalks then bill property owners for the work.
“We have to fund the program ourselves for at least the first 18 months before getting reimbursed from the residents,” Mayor Raymond Skotarczyk said. “Costs would be assessed through their taxes.”
Commissioner Lisa Hendrick said, “In the new sidewalk program, if they don’t want to repair their sidewalks, then we would fix them and charge them for it.”
City commissioners will continue to discuss the repair program at their April 2 meeting. Still to be resolved is where the up-front money would come from.
“First, we have to go through the program in detail and make any changes and try to find a way to fund it and then make a resolution,” Skotarczyk said. “I’m going to put it back on the agenda in the next meeting for more discussion.”
He said not fixing the walkways is already costing the city money.
“We had a couple of lawsuits last year,” he said. “It is causing our insurance company to get a bit antsy.”
Marine City has had five slip and fall lawsuits since June 1, 2011, costing the city $9,500 in insurance deductibles.
“We have only had to pay a deductible for each lawsuit, but that’s why our insurance (premium) has gone up 40 percent,” said Don Tillery, police chief and acting city manager.
Talks have included dividing the city into four sections, then completing repairs one section at a time. Marine City’s current sidewalk program includes reimbursing residents up to one-third of the cost of concrete for repairing sidewalks.
Gary Fletcher, a municipal attorney, said sidewalks are usually considered a property owner’s responsibility.
“The sidewalk generally is located on the property owner’s property,” Fletcher said. “It’s common in many residential subdivisions for the city to charge residents for sidewalk replacement because of the city’s ordinance deflecting responsibility on the property owner.”
Fletcher said the city can still be sued for slip and falls because it is considered a public right of way.
Hendrick said the city would absorb the costs for adding disability-compliant curbs and ramps at intersections.
Stephen Saph Jr., the city’s insurance agent, said he asked city officials to review sidewalk standards in 2013.
“I suggested they create an appropriate ordinance to define the responsibilities and the requirements for safe pedestrian travel,” he said. “Its good practice to have an ongoing inspection rotation occurring in which sidewalks are being inspected to ensure ADA compliance and safety.”
Marine City resident Denise Till said she goes for walks nearly every day in the summer and would be in favor of incurring additional costs to keep sidewalks maintained.
“It would benefit the handicapped, that’s for sure,” she said. “(The sidewalks) need to be fixed. There are cracks that can cause a person to trip and be injured.”
Judith Anderson, who has lived in Marine City since 1998, said she too would be in favor of whatever program was installed.
“I would be in favor of it,” she said. “Some are in such bad shape they are hardly walkable. I see too many people falling.”
Contact Tony Wittkowski at (810) 989-6270 or twittkowsk@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter @tonywittkowski.
(Author’s Note: This article was originally published on March 24, 2015)
Tony Wittkowski 