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Corporation of Shepherdstown to offer cost-sharing program for sidewalk resurfacing

By Tabitha Johnston - Chronicle Staff | Dec 17, 2021

The Corporation of Shepherdstown Public Works Department made a thorough survey in town this fall, to identify sidewalks in critical need of repair. Tabitha Johnston

SHEPHERDSTOWN — At the beginning of the new year, local residents should expect to begin receiving notices from the Corporation of Shepherdstown Public Works Department.

According to Public Works Department Director Frank Welch, the notices will be regarding property owners’ need to resurface the sidewalks near their properties. The notices will not be sent out at one time, but rather in stages, based on which sidewalks are most in need of repair.

“We’ve had several people who were injured from falling down — some of those injuries were severe,” Welch said at Town Hall on Dec. 8. “We surveyed the whole town [for damaged sidewalks] at the beginning of the fall.”

Sending the notices out to those with the most problematic sidewalks first will hopefully allow those property owners more than enough time to complete the repairs themselves or hire contractors to do the work. It will also allow property owners with the most expensive resurfacing needs to receive first consideration for inclusion in the Sidewalk Repair Cost-Sharing Program.

“Last month, the town set aside $40,000 for a cost-sharing program for sidewalks,” said Mayor Jim Auxer. We’re going to start sending out letters with information on this to those within the Corporation of Shepherdstown.

“It’s been spurred on by people falling down. We’re responding to those concerns,” Auxer said. “In general, these instances have been passed along to us by word-of-mouth.

“We’ve also received a couple of emails regarding the sidewalks. When you hear it, you want to respond to it. There’s so much that needs to be fixed!” Auxer said, mentioning a similar town-led cost-sharing program was offered in 2019. “The cost-sharing program worked well, before the COVID-19 Pandemic. We backed off after that. Now that the funds are available, we’re going to start again.”

While the program in 2019 was expansive, allowing the town funds to be applied to general property repairs for those without the means to otherwise do them, the Public Works Department pushed for this version of the program to be solely focused on sidewalk repair.

“Right now, there’s 13 hazardous sidewalks in town,” Welch said. “They’re fairly obvious — there’s a hole or a concrete slab sticking out! You can’t have that. It’s just too much of a tripping hazard.”

Corporation of Shepherdstown Planning & Zoning Administrator Andy Beall noted that some property owners may have allowed their sidewalks to disintegrate, due to a lack of knowledge.

“A lot of people might not even be aware that they need to take care of their sidewalks,” Beall said, mentioning this is a common practice in most municipalities.

The timeline for sidewalk repair completion and further information, regarding the cost-sharing program, will be printed in the notices, Auxer said.