Public service committee advances multiple street, sidewalk and parking assessments and North Main reconstruction

The public service committee advanced a bundle of infrastructure measures covering sidewalks, concrete streets, business‑district parking assessments, street cleaning and lighting, and a major resurfacing/reconstruction project on North Main Street.

Service Director Chris Ludlow told the committee the city’s sidewalk petition program has been funded at about $1 million per year and typically handles roughly 220–225 properties annually; as of the meeting there were about 125 petitions in the queue for the current cycle. Property owners assessed for sidewalk improvements receive an estimate before work; assessments may be paid up front or placed on property taxes over five years.

The committee approved resolutions to proceed with levying special assessments for the 2023 and 2024 citywide sidewalk programs and to issue notices to affected property owners. It also approved moving forward on the 2025 concrete streets program (a list of specific streets was presented) and assessments tied to street cleaning and street lighting services.

The committee approved a notice to proceed for the North Main Street “bridge‑to‑bridge” reconstruction project, which will resurface the roadway, replace curbs, reconstruct sidewalks and replace an aging water main. Ludlow said Enbridge (the gas utility) has been doing replacement work in the corridor and staff coordinated allowing Enbridge to complete its work prior to full street reconstruction to avoid reopening the new pavement later.

The legislation on assessments and notices to proceed was advanced via motions to suspend the rules with a favorable report and will be placed on the full council agenda for formal adoption. Staff said contractors are being grouped by area to limit mobilization costs and that the streets included were chosen to allow efficient sequencing of work.