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Residents urge Jamestown council to fix unsafe sidewalks, press for clearer demolition plans
Summary
At a Nov. 3 Jamestown council work session, a resident detailed severely damaged sidewalks and criticized slow, unclear demolition and repair processes; council members said photos were forwarded to staff and that sidewalk work may be scheduled next year pending funding decisions.
A Jamestown resident used the public comment period at the Nov. 3 city council work session to press officials over unsafe sidewalks and what she described as evasive responses about demolitions.
"Sidewalks still unusable in places, sits at 45 degree angles," said Speaker 4, who told the council she had sent photos and tried to get clearer answers about demolitions. She said online responses from some officials were unhelpful and characterized a reply from a district representative as deflecting responsibility: "Call Chuck Schumer. It's the Schumer shutdown," she said, adding that residents deserve direct action from local officials.
City staff and council responded that they had forwarded photos to a municipal contact, Mark Ritzer, and that the town maintains a multi-year schedule for sidewalk work. Speaker 1 said the timing meant many locations could not be scheduled for repair this year. "When and if he can get to that ... it was too late to get on schedule for this year," Speaker 1 said, while noting crews had trimmed vegetation on Fulton Street.
Funding and demolition timing were central to the discussion. Speaker 7 said the town submitted a pro-housing funding application through CFA for infrastructure work on Fulton Street, including water, sewer, sidewalks and roads, and that officials want to learn the outcome before finalizing sidewalk plans. "So we wanna make sure that we find out about that before we put any plans in place to do sidewalks too," Speaker 7 said.
The exchange also touched on demolition sequencing: council members noted it would be inefficient to install new sidewalks before removing structures scheduled for demolition. "Then drive equipment over to knock a house. So houses get knocked down ... And then when that's all gone, then you lay the new sidewalk," one official said.
The work session moved on after routine agenda items; the council later voted to enter executive session on personnel and a contract negotiation.
Next steps: staff said they will continue coordinating sidewalk schedules with department heads and with the outcome of the CFA funding application; no formal policy or funding decision was made during the work session.
