Ashland council advances vacation of alley between Ronald and Matthews Avenues after resident raises drainage concerns

The Ashland City Council on May 6 voted to move forward with vacating an alley between Ronald and Matthews avenues after the Board of Revision and Assessment recommended the vacation with additional engineering follow-up.

The recommendation followed public testimony from property owner Ron Stewart, who told the council he has experienced repeated flooding in his garage and said city crews found mud and two 4-inch pipes when they cleaned a catch basin in the alley. "I'm opposed to it right now because I've been working with a city engineer since February," Stewart said, adding that the basin has flooded his building and that he is worried about inheriting repair costs if ownership changes.

The council and the board treated the alley vacation primarily as a right-of-way question. The board voted to forward the vacation to council with the condition that the city engineer further investigate the drainage and record discrepancies; Finance Director Larry Paxton and Attorney (Law Director) Bush participated in the board roll call and supported the recommendation. Council then approved the ordinance on its first reading and voted to suspend rules for three readings, forwarding the matter for ordinance preparation.

Why it matters: Stewart and the council raised potential property- and infrastructure-maintenance implications if ownership of the land is split between adjacent parcels post-vacation. Stewart estimated major repairs could be required to restore or reroute storm drainage under Matthews Avenue and said he feared inheriting those costs; he described possible direct-boring costs and asphalt repairs and called for confirmation of the piping condition prior to final transfer.

What council and staff said: Councilmembers and staff repeatedly separated the vacation question from the drainage problem. Mayor Dennis Miller and staff said vacating an alley does not automatically remove the city's obligation to address nearby stormwater problems. City staff told the board in real time they have no records of the catch basin in the city's maps and that the basin may have been installed without city authorization, but council asked the engineering department to continue investigating and to coordinate with Stewart.

Next steps: The Board of Revision and Assessment's recommendation and the ordinance will proceed through the council's ordinance process. City engineering staff committed to further investigation of the catch basin's records, ownership and condition, and to follow up with Stewart.

Quotations are from the meeting transcript: "I'm opposed to it right now because I've been working with a city engineer since February," said Ron Stewart. Mayor Dennis Miller said the city has "no intentions to ever turn that into a public alleyway in the future" and confirmed staff will follow up. Councilmember comments noted the alley "does not serve a purpose for traffic," and engineering staff said their current maps show no utilities in the alley.

Ending: The city will continue engineering follow-up and communicate with Stewart; the vacation will proceed through the council ordinance process for final action.