The April monthly meeting of the Nazareth Borough Council began with the opening of sealed bids for miscellaneous road materials and equipment and was soon followed by public discussion.
The recognition of citizens from the floor focused on sidewalks in the borough. One resident called for a new ordinance to ensure sidewalks are safe for pedestrians. Jack Herbst, chairperson of the law committee, stated that an ordinance from Emmaus Borough was being reviewed, but was stuck in committee.
Councilman Mike Davis noted that eight years ago he was part of the Pavement Committee, comprised of three members who reviewed walks in their own ward. The Committee had 185 letters sent to residents and had 180 of those comply with the requests.
One resident raised the point that the Borough ordinance that exists calls for sidewalks on all properties, yet not all street-fronted property has them and it is unfair to call for repairs on those who have complied with this request without also demanding that sidewalks be installed for those without.
Arguments were made that tree roots and winter frost made many walks non-compliant and even if a resident repaired them, they could be non-compliant the following spring.
It would seem that some form of a tiered approach could be made. Properties within a specific district (business, shops and tourism areas) would be requested to install if they do not already have them. Any walk with crumbled curbing or walks or walks heaved greater than two inches not caused by a tree root would need to be repaired. Remove the worst of the problem and kindly encourage without forcing all others to keep theirs well maintained.
Got comments, suggestions or know of walks with issues - call them out here and NewsOverCoffee will forward them to the Law Committee.
No comments:
Post a Comment