BY CLARE MARIE CELANO
Staff Writer
CLARE MARIE CELANO People who are out for a stroll on the streets of Freehold Borough have to watch their step on some sidewalks that are in need of repair. FREEHOLD — Sidewalks in the borough could be in line for repairs if a program that was discussed at a recent meeting of the Borough Council is started.
Borough Administrator Joseph Bellina said many streets have older trees, but although those trees help to give the town its charm, they are also “bound to cause some disruption of the smooth surfaces of the sidewalks they enhance.”
That fact has led municipal officials to discuss bringing back a sidewalk program that was in effect in 2001. According to Bellina, that program was successful. He said code enforcement officials are continually monitoring the sidewalks in an effort to determine which ones are not up to code and in need of repair or replacement.
The administrator said borough officials understand that replacing the sidewalks can be a big expense to property owners. Consequently, the sidewalk program under discussion will allow property owners and the borough to split the cost of repairing the sidewalks that border a home. That is how the program
worked in 2001. Bellina said the previous program included help with financing the sidewalks through the borough at a nominal interest fee. He said the plan to reinstate the sidewalk program is on tap for early 2005.
The resurrection of the sidewalk repair program cannot happen soon enough for former code enforcement official Matt Lizzul, who said the sidewalks near his home on Stokes Street are in “horrendous” condition. He called the sidewalks on a good portion of Stokes Street between Broad Street and Lenoir Avenue “unsafe and hazardous.”
Although Lizzul does not have a sidewalk in front of his home, he said he and his wife spend a good deal of time walking in the borough and he said it gets more difficult all the time to do that comfortably.
He said he is concerned about the safety of residents, especially young mothers pushing baby carriages. He said many mothers seem to have taken to walking in the street because it’s safer than trying to walk on a bumpy, raised sidewalk.
“This is outrageous,” Lizzul said. “There is no reason why this should be tolerated.”
He said he is disappointed there has been no progress on the issue since he brought the matter of the sidewalks on Stokes Street to the attention of municipal officials.
He said that in May he initially asked for someone to inspect the sidewalks.
In June, he said, “someone from the borough came and marked the cement slabs on the street that needed repairing or replacing.” Lizzul said 96 slabs on the east side of Stokes Street and 62 on the west side of the street were marked for repair or replacement.
By mid-July, Lizzul said, he became frustrated because no action had been taken and he again contacted code enforcement officials who informed him that the matter had been turned over to Bellina.
“I spoke with Joe Bellina on July 12,” Lizzul said. “He told me that officials didn’t want to overwhelm property owners on the street. He said the borough was busy taking care of the trees in town, but that soon, property owners with unsafe sidewalks would be getting notices about the need to repair them.”
Lizzul, who was the borough’s code enforcement officer during the 1980s, said that if a property owner has an unsafe or hazardous sidewalk in front of his home it is a violation of a borough code and the property owner should receive a citation for the violation.
Mayor Michael Wilson acknowledged that some sidewalks in the borough are in a state of disrepair. He said he is hoping that a capital improvement ordinance can be adopted after Jan. 1 that would provide municipal funding for the repairs, in conjunction with payments that residents would be asked to make.
Wilson said if a house is sold, repairs to the sidewalk, if warranted, must be made before a certificate of occupancy can be issued to the new property owner.
The mayor said code officials do go throughout the borough to look for problem areas and mark the locations where repairs are needed.