Finance Committee hears detailed briefing on sidewalk repairs, budgets and contracting

Public Works staff briefed the Finance Committee on March 19 about the city’s sidewalk repair program, performance metrics, funding sources and contracting practices.

Bert Fogel, identified as the public works director, introduced Betsy McKeown, bureau chief of engineering and construction, and Allison DiMaggio, engineer and project manager for the sidewalk program. Staff said the sidewalk program’s current performance metric is roughly 15,000 square feet per year and that the capital budget contains about $600,000 per year for sidewalk work. Staff explained that brick sidewalks in the historic downtown are much more expensive to repair than concrete sidewalks: a single side of a brick city block can cost about $100,000 to $150,000 to rebuild, including granite curbs, while concrete repairs are typically substantially less per square foot.

Staff summarized how work is prioritized: concrete sidewalk repair generally follows the paving program (sidewalks are assessed and repaired as streets are scheduled for repaving), while brick repairs are prioritized on the basis of complaints, crew observations and a detailed condition assessment performed by a consultant (Iwerks) on a four‑year cycle. Staff said the current ability to do brick work is sometimes constrained by utility work (BGE) that could tear out newly repaired sidewalks, and they coordinate schedules with utilities to avoid redundant work.

Public Works said it is pursuing an ADA accessibility assessment and transition planning project; the city has about $40,000 available to begin an initial assessment focused on the historic district, with the intent of scaling to a citywide ADA transition plan that inventories sidewalks, ramps and obstructions.

Committee members asked about the division of responsibility between property owners and the city. Public Works cited the city code provision (identified in the meeting as code 14-0-450) that requires abutting owners to remove debris and snow and to barricade hazardous conditions, while the city handles repairs that rise to a public-safety or programmatic level. Staff clarified driveway aprons are the property owner’s responsibility; city crews and contract crews carry out larger repairs and reconstruction.

On contracting, staff said the city uses multi-year unit‑price contracts with multiple contractors to perform brick and concrete work. For bids and contracting the city uses unit prices (per square foot) for different materials and items (brick, concrete, granite curbs) and may also rely on contractors under the paving program for related work. Committee members discussed funding options — pay‑go, capital reserve, or bonds — and were advised by Finance staff (in the meeting) that the typical municipal practice is to blend one‑time cash resources and bond funding; the city has historically tried to split funding for sidewalk CIP between cash (capital reserve) and bonds and would consider that mix when increasing funding.

Why it matters: Committee members said sidewalks are a frequent constituent concern that raises life‑safety and equity issues — especially for older residents and neighborhoods that lack continuous sidewalks. The briefing identified a mix of short‑term repairs, ongoing operating work and longer‑lived capital investments that require distinct budgeting and contracting approaches.

What the committee recorded: Public Works committed to sharing condition-assessment data with the committee and to coordinate with the mayor’s office and finance on how additional funds might be staged; no vote was taken on funding changes at this session.