EDITORIAL: A law to require property owners to maintain sidewalks abutting their property already exists in Hightstown, but it would be wise to hold off on that plan on Stockton Street.
The reaction of the Borough Council to the estimates to repair the sidewalks, curbs and driveway aprons along Stockton Street can be best summed up in two words: sticker shock.
The anticipated high price of the repairs leaves the council looking for a way to pay for them. An idea proposed by one of the panel’s newest members is the way to go, but perhaps not right now.
After announcing at the end of January its intention to go ahead with the project, the council heard at its Feb. 4 meeting that its plans for the curbs, sidewalks and aprons could cost between $410,000 and $915,000. In a town so small that a penny on the tax rate raises only about $21,500 for the municipal coffers, those amounts might cause even the most liberal of spenders to pause. Fortunately for Hightstown taxpayers, the council has backed off tackling the project this year.
Hopefully, the council will be able to put a halt to Mercer County’s plan to repave Stockton Street before that process passes the point of no return. The council hopes to coordinate the repaving project with the sidewalk repairs and the downtown revitalization to minimize the amount of time residents there would be inconvenienced.
The idea of pursuing a grant to fund the sidewalks has been put forth by Mayor Amy Aughenbaugh. Freshman Councilman Richard Pratt suggested a system similar to the one used in Hamilton Township, where sidewalks in disrepair must be fixed by the owner of the property that lies along the walk or repairs the municipality is compelled to make are assessed against the property as a lien.
Actually, such a system is already on the books in Hightstown. With thanks to Borough Attorney Joshua Markowitz, we found that section 17-2 of the borough code outlines a program remarkably similar to the one Mr. Pratt suggested.
However, the project on Stockton Street may not be the best place to start enforcing these laws. The sidewalks there are a mishmash of styles (from simple to decorative), ages (from new to old to ancient) and conditions (from pristine to weathered to damaged). Some of the sidewalks on Stockton have obviously been repaired recently or are still safe and usable. There are other areas where the walks are uneven, cracked and in need of replacement.
If the council wants to replace the entire length of the sidewalk along Stockton to form a unified look, it would be best to seek out a grant for the work; compelling residents to pay for repairs in spots where none are needed would be unfair. Once the borough has the sidewalks, aprons and curbs the way it wants them, it should then become incumbent on the property owners to maintain them and assume responsibility for them.
That option provides for a fair system to evaluate all of the borough’s sidewalks without burdening its taxpayers for repairs in front of a few homes.