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Downtown paver project draws merchant opposition as council readies engineering work
Summary
Business owners and residents pushed back on a proposed $1.5 million downtown brick/paver sidewalk project, raising concerns about durability, utility work, and lack of merchant consultation; the city will discuss the project further in the street & sewer committee.
Several downtown business owners and residents told the council they oppose replacing existing sidewalks with pavers in a $1.5 million project the council discussed at committee.
A long‑time downtown property owner urged the council to reconsider, saying the downtown paver project would damage merchant interests and questioned why the city could not use horizontal directional drilling for utilities rather than cutting existing sidewalks. The speaker also suggested that if the project is infeasible, the city could use the materials on other streets.
"This downtown sidewalk project should not move forward until all options are looked at and all historic preservation questions have been addressed," the resident said.
Council members authorized Benton Engineering to begin design work for downtown pavement, sidewalk and curb improvements and placed related items on the street & sewer committee agenda for further review. Several commenters also recommended broader fiscal restraint and questioned budget increases in the recently adopted appropriation.
What’s next: the street & sewer committee will review details and the council advised further outreach to merchants and consideration of alternatives before construction.
