Trustees to consider 30-foot East Baker sidewalk extension after staff brief

The Public Works Committee heard a proposal to extend a short sidewalk segment on East Baker and agreed to place the item on the next board agenda for formal approval.

Jim, a village public works staff member, said the sidewalk extension would be roughly 30 feet through a strip currently recorded as a village alleyway. “We were asked to extend the sidewalk that was just put in under the property over there on East, East Baker,” he said, and noted the alley never continued fully to Baker. Jim said the property owner, John Tamplin, had offered to perform grading up to his property apron while the village would handle excavation and concrete installation. He described material estimates as modest: “You’re looking at, you know, $500 in concrete, $50 in stone, and, you know, public works and dig it out and install it.”

The chair said the village would follow its responsibilities and confirmed the village’s work likely would stop at the owner’s apron. Committee members discussed pavement condition at the apron, potential saw-cut details to make a flush edge, and the fact that the project could be bundled into a summer sidewalk program.

Trustees did not vote on the item at the meeting; instead they directed staff to place the sidewalk extension on the next board agenda so other trustees can review bids and weigh in. The item will return for a formal vote once cost estimates and any survey clarifications are provided.