UPDATE: Lemon Street Sidewalks & Curbs (June 7 Council Meeting)

June 7, 2022 Council Meeting

Still a major concern for local residents, many showed up to the Council meeting on June 7th. In fact, there were so many in attendance that extra chairs had to be setup, which was impressive. Council bypassed the normal agenda of letting the citizens comment in order to allow Council members Schick and Gochnauer to provide their views. This seemed to alleviate some residents' concerns and provide clarity and knowledge to the situation.

Council VP Schick's Input

Schick made clear that he takes the residents' concerns seriously, and as a homeowner, understands the financial situation currently. He stated that there is room for being reasonable, so there doesn't need to be a completely "this or that" solution. The borough doesn't qualify for any grant assistance because of average incomes in the area.

He did state that there is always an option where the borough have the work done then seek reimbursement from the property owner, but the cost could be as much as 25% higher due to prevailing wage laws. He is willing to discuss waiving some of the permit fees for when residents go in together to have replacements made.

At the end of the day, there are sidewalks and curbs that are in bad shape. Schick will be working with the residents along with the borough engineer to do walk-throughs of the sidewalks and identify areas that may or may not require replacement/repair.

Council Member Gochnauer's Input

Gochnauer agreed that he was on board with helping the borough meet the residents in the middle. He is recommending to Council that they get a cost of replacing the sidewalks and curbs in that area. He also strongly recommended that the Lemon Street citizens continue to band together and emphasized that they should try to get any bids and work completed as a whole group, not individuals. Adam is also in support of waiving the permit fees for work that is being mandated.

He also recommended that the borough develop a "best practices" type of approach to dealing with these situations in the future. They will use this situation of Lemon Street and explore various methods to best communicate infrastructure needs to residents and work with them for mandatory improvements.

Upcoming Information

This matter is going to be discussed further at the next borough Committee Meeting. This will be held at the Community Center on Thursday, June 23, 2022 at 6pm.