West Allis moves forward on sidewalk repairs, approves special-assessment schedule

The West Allis Common Council on Feb. 11 approved a city engineer report that schedules concrete sidewalk reconstruction in parts of the city and establishes special assessments to help pay for the work.

City Engineer Melinda Dieske presented the sidewalk program at a public hearing, saying the city inspected about 1,900 properties and identified roughly 356 properties with sidewalk slabs needing repair. “For our public hearing, we are going to talk about the project scope and the, the assessment rates and the payment methods,” Dieske said at the start of her presentation.

The city estimates the sidewalk project’s total cost at about $300,000. The engineering office said the inspection area for 2025 runs roughly from Cleveland to the Union Pacific Railroad and from South 90th Street to South 108th Street. Dieske said the last time the city did work in that area was in February 2006.

Under the city’s special-assessment policy, property owners in affected blocks will receive bills after the work is complete. Dieske described standard payment options: a lump-sum payment (automatic for small sidewalk assessments), a five-year installment plan for assessments roughly in the $100–$250 band, and a 10-year installment plan for assessments above $250. The city applies a four percent interest charge to installment plans because it borrows funds to pay contractors.

During the hearing residents asked detail-level questions about how the city decides whether to replace or grind a slab, how property lines are divided when a slab sits on a lot line, and how to reach engineering staff for property-specific questions. Dieske and Assistant City Engineer Rob Hutter said staff can perform property-specific reviews after the snow clears and that neighbors will receive notices and a “construction in progress” online update when the project starts.

Gordon Goals (address given as 2411 South 90th Street) asked why one of his slabs was slated for replacement rather than grinding; Dieske explained staff assess slope, displacement and cracking and may grind some slabs when displacement is small. Property owners with split slabs can request an on-site explanation of the square-foot allocation used to compute assessments.

At a later council vote during the meeting’s recessed session the council adopted the city engineer’s report and schedule of proposed assessments for sidewalk reconstruction. The resolution was moved and seconded and passed without recorded opposition.

The engineering department encouraged residents to sign up for email updates on the city’s website and said final assessment bills will not be mailed until after construction is complete and quantities are finalized. Staff advised property owners to contact the engineering department (Rob Hutter or Melinda Dieske) for parcel-specific questions or to review how the city measured frontage or divided slabs.