City will pay for more sidewalk repairs

By Robby Lewis

Published Dec. 4, 2007

Monday's City Council meeting paved the way for sidewalk-repair reform.

The Council voted unanimously to pass an ordinance amending Columbia's current sidewalk policy.

City Manager Bill Watkins said the changes would help property owners.

"This is an amendment to our current sidewalk public policy to maintenance," Watkins said. "What we are proposing is to amend our funding policy to provide 50 percent of repair funds for downtown sidewalks and to fund 100 percent of the reconstruction for replacement of the sidewalks in some of our older neighborhoods."

The ordinance requires property owners to pay 50 percent of downtown area sidewalk-repair costs and the city to pay the remaining 50 percent.

Before passing the new ordinance, city law required property owners to pay 100 percent of sidewalk-repair costs.

The ordinance also requires the city to pay up to 100 percent of the repair costs of sidewalks that were a part of the 2007 Columbia Sidewalk Master Plan, which was passed in March.

Previously, the city paid up to 60 percent on these sidewalks.

The amendment requires the city to pay up to 50 percent of the repair costs for sidewalks in some residential districts without taxing the owner of the property.

Watkins said this ordinance is supposed to make it easier to repair the sidewalks that were part of the 2007 Columbia Sidewalk Master Plan.

"Our goal when we do this is for the city to take on the repairs of all the sidewalks for the master plan, which are our major sidewalk areas," Watkins said.

He also said the council hopes to move quickly and that they are already considering future plans.

"We would like to move ahead with the plans for next year," Watkins said. "One of the things that we are considering in terms of replacement for sidewalks in the older neighborhoods is to try to do some of it ourselves by hiring some of the younger people in our neighborhood, trying to get them summer jobs."

The city staff's recommendation said this ordinance is the first step in the city's Sidewalk Repair Management System.

Also for the system, the council wants to hold a yearly campaign to encourage the public to report sidewalk damage. The council would like a compilation of lists of necessary sidewalk repairs and their locations to be given to a contractor each summer season.