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Medina committee weighs lidar survey and program changes to tackle unsafe sidewalks
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Summary
The Streets and Sidewalks Committee discussed buying a lidar sidewalk-survey system, changing the ordinance that now makes property owners pay for repairs, and collecting consultant bids and cost estimates to decide whether to fund city-wide repairs and hire seasonal inspectors.
The Medina Streets and Sidewalks Committee spent much of its meeting debating how to identify and accelerate sidewalk repairs after a resident reported a tripping hazard on Shorewood Drive.
Pat in the engineering department told the committee staff had explored a vehicle-mounted lidar mapping system that can detect surface irregularities down to roughly three-quarters of an inch. "It's a lidar system ... It can identify those tripping hazards down to, I think he said, 3 quarters of an inch," Pat said, and added the three-year subscription would be under $10,000 per year pending reference checks.
Committee members also revisited the city’s 2013 sidewalk ordinance and whether the city or individual property owners should pay for repairs. Councilman Bill, who outlined the ordinance history, recommended hiring a seasonal part-time worker to map and prioritize sidewalks by ward and then bid replacement work in batches. "We will hire somebody for the season as a part timer to begin to identify area by area, ward by ward," Bill said, adding a phased approach could allow the city to address two wards in a year.
Pat noted the current ordinance defines a tripping hazard at two inches and said tightening that threshold and clarifying when grinding versus replacement is required would be part of any ordinance change. "In the ordinance, the tripping hazard is 2 inches," Pat said; committee members discussed lowering that threshold and documenting field criteria so decisions are consistent.
Members debated options to speed assessment: contracting a consultant who can survey neighborhoods quickly, deploying the lidar technology on a city vehicle, or recruiting residents to report hazards through an online form. Staff and members cautioned about liability and consistent follow-up if the city solicits reports; a staff speaker referenced prior guidance from the law director on that risk and recommended a defined program and timeline to mitigate liability.
Next steps: members asked staff to gather vendor references and cost proposals (including consultant pricing and lidar references) and aim to return with estimates in roughly two weeks so the committee can decide whether to change the ordinance, pursue the lidar subscription, hire seasonal help, or issue a consultant request for proposals.
