Grace Kirchner, Leader Correspondent
A portion of the sidewalk on the north side of Ninth Street in Clintonville has been closed and will remain closed until repairs are made.
According to City Administrator Chuck Kell, the issue was discovered when the fire department did a routine inspection of the commercial building on that corner of Ninth Street and South Main Street. The inspector found a potentially serious issue, according to Kell.
Kell said the basement of the building extends beyond the sidewalk to the curb line. The whole sidewalk is exposed in the basement, and there is water damage that is causing the concrete to fall apart.
“It is a dangerous situation. If someone happened to put a car tire up on that sidewalk I think they’d end up in the basement of the building,” Kell said.
Kell said this type of problem is normally solved is by removing the sidewalk, building a concrete block wall a few feet inside the existing basement wall, then filling the void between the two walls with compacted stone. A new sidewalk is then installed on top of the compacted stone.
The process was used on the Main Street portion of the same building when South Main Street was reconstructed, Kell noted.
The estimated cost of fixing the problem is about $60,000.
Sidewalks are the responsibility of the abutting owners, according to city statute. Kell said the owner has 20 days to replace the sidewalk after being notified by the city. If the sidewalk is not replaced in that amount of time, the city can replace it and assess the cost to the owners of the abutting property.
Kell recommended that the city work with the property owners to decide who is going to pay for it.
Businesses occupying the building include Modern Hair II, Hearing Services and B & H Fashionwear. The owners are Sandy Bruette and Sue Aschliman.
No action was taken at the meeting.