Ark Valley News - City gets tough on sidewalk project

City gets tough on sidewalk project
By Chris Strunk
Last Updated: June 04, 2015

City officials don't want to use it, but they have it in case they need it.

The Valley Center City Council voted unanimously on June 2 to give the city authority to begin condemnation procedures to gain temporary construction easements to install a 5-foot-wide sidewalk on 15 properties in the Valley Meadows neighborhood on the city's north end.

Warren Utecht — the city's outgoing director of community development, who has championed the implementation of a city-wide sidewalk system for the past four years — said he still wanted to negotiate with residents who opposed the sidewalks because of the disruption they would cause to their properties.

Utecht spoke with a sense of urgency, telling the council that the city has secured federal grant funding for much of the cost of the project and the city would hate to lose the financing this late in the planning stages.

"I really think this is a beneficial thing to do in this neighborhood," Utecht said, adding that the sidewalk along Goff would connect with sidewalks on Meadow Road and along Interurban on the west side of the neighborhood.

The sidewalk would run along the south side of Goff from Meridian to Fieldstone and then cross to the north side of Goff. At the same time, sidewalks would be constructed along Fieldstone and Clover Lane.

Some property owners said the wider-than-normal sidewalks take up too much of their front yards and would cause expensive repairs to sprinkler systems and driveways.

"We're not opposed to sidewalks," said Eva Willms, who lives at 600 W. Goff. "… It's the way the original plan was."

Utecht said he planned to move sections of the sidewalk closer to the street in some areas to accommodate the objections. However, he warned, there was no guarantee that the changes would be approved by the Kansas Department of Transportation, which is required because of the federal funding.

"I guarantee everyone of you, if it were your yard, you'd be kicking and screaming," Willms told the city council.

The city could shrink the size of the sidewalk to four feet wide, eliminating the need for temporary construction easements. However, the move also would cause the city to lose the federal grant.

Utecht said he planned to meet with property owners again in the coming days. The timeline calls for bids to be awarded in November and work to begin soon after.

Utecht said the sidewalks are part of a bigger master plan to provide safe travel to schools as well as avenues for exercise.

In other business June 2, the council:

•Heard a presentation from the architectural firm that is designing the proposed community center. "It's very well done," said council member Lou Cicirello. "I'm very impressed with this."

•Heard from a resident in the 7200 block of North Interurban who thanked the city for grading the heavily used dirt road recently, but wondered why it took so long.

•Voted 8-0 to authorize a $32,000 study of the city's water wells and to determine how much it would cost to maximize the output of the wells. The study also will include a detailed look at the feasibility of establishing the city's own water-purification system so it does not have to rely so much on Wichita.

•Voted 8-0 to pay for the expansion of a Valley Center Recreation Commission waterline project, installing a 12-inch line instead of a six-inch line and extending the line from the rec commission's golf course to Fifth Street, a move that would improve water pressure on the city's north side.

The city council will have a special meeting at 6 p.m. June 9 at City Hall to discuss the 2016 city budget.