Panel discusses ways to pay for sidewalk replacement

Highland residents — particularly those of low-to-moderate income — could soon start seeing upgrades to their sidewalks, but an ordinance on the books can require residents to pay for it if the town decides to enforce it.

Previously, towns were able to use portions of their Community Development Block Grants toward low-to moderate-income areas as part of an already ongoing program, Clerk-Treasurer Michael Griffin said during Monday night’s Town Council study session. The Lake County Development Department, however, didn’t want the town to separate out low- to moderate-income areas because it was harder to keep track of it from its end, he said.

Public Works Director Mark Knesek and Griffin could revisit the issue with the department, Griffin said, or the town could think about dedicating existing or new money toward it — up to and including the possibility of implementing a wheel tax for the town.

Council President Roger Sheeman, R-5th, asked whether any of the $4.6 million the town will receive in CARES Act money could be used toward sidewalks, but Griffin said he has yet to sit down with someone from the Department of the Treasury to figure that out, though he suspects the department would rather see the money go toward new projects as opposed to already established ones. The town also received $500,000 from the Community Crossings grant, but it must be matched in order to use it all, Sheeman said.

In terms of liability, towns that have rolling sidewalk projects do have a level of protection against people who get hurt on a broken section of sidewalk, and the town does have a rated list of sidewalks from good to poor, Griffin said, as well as an ordinance that can force residents to pick up a portion of replacement costs. The town, however, is reluctant to enforce it because if a resident can’t or won’t pay for the repair or replacement, the town is allowed to make the repairs and then, after a public hearing, recover the costs from the resident through a payment plan.

“The law is very clear about elected officials and bodies like yours being responsible for the ultimate laying of an assessment, which is one iteration away from taxing. That’s the part council has been reluctant to participate in,” Griffin said. “So, if we go and tell people to repair (their sidewalk), it’s going to be difficult for the Public Works Department to marshal its resources to do the repair not knowing that they’re going to get reimbursed some of that assessment.”

Sheeman said that if there’s an ordinance already on the books that allows the town to make the repairs, he doesn’t see why it shouldn’t be enforced, because there are sidewalks in great need of repair or replacement.

In other business, the town discussed whether to modify its COVID-19 paid-leave policy to remove any employee who hasn’t received at least one dose of the vaccine from getting paid time off if they catch the virus going forward. According to Knesek, 43% of Highland Town employees haven’t received at least one vaccine dose yet.