Danville Assistant City Engineer Josh Morgan discusses sidewalk and road repairs during Monday¿s City Commission meeting. (Stephanie Mojica/smojica@amnews.com)
Danville City Commission unanimously approved a resolution Monday that allocates about $185,000 of city funds toward repaving seven streets before the vice-presidential debate in October at Centre College.
Public Works officials will repave portions of West Lexington Avenue, Perryville Street, Rosemont Avenue, Harding Street, Highfield Road, Russell Street and Apache Trail.
However, not all problematic sidewalks and streets in the city will be repaired before the debate, which drew the ire of several residents including J.P. Brantley.
Brantley said sidewalks on portions of Fourth Street as well as Walnut Street are potentially hazardous, especially to people using wheelchairs. City Manager Ron Scott and Commissioner Kevin Caudill agreed with Brantley’s assessment. However, both sidewalks in question are the responsibility of the property owners to maintain, said City Attorney Stephen Dexter.
If the property owners refuse to complete the repairs, the city can do the work and place a lien for the costs against the property. However, the enforcement process would not be complete before the Oct. 11 debate.
“(The issue) has not really been addressed up until now,” Caudill said. “(Enforcement) probably should have happened a long time ago.”
Other decisions include:
- Commissioners unanimously approved the purchase of a new dump truck, snow plow and salt spreader. Only one company, Stuart Powell Ford, placed a bid, said Assistant City Engineer Josh Morgan. The cost of the truck and plowing equipment will be about $94,315.
- Commissioner Ryan Montgomery recused himself from a vote to approve payment of the city’s monthly bills. One of the checks is remitted to Lexington property owner Mitchell Barnes, with whom Montgomery’s father Mike conducts business. The payment was for August rent of the current Public Works building in the amount of $3,624.66. Ryan Montgomery reiterated that he and his family members do not receive any financial gain from the transaction, but he wanted to recuse himself from the vote to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. During recent meetings, residents have expressed concern about Ryan Montgomery’s involvement in the city’s purchase of the BISCO building on South Third Street from Barnes at a price tag of $1.23 million.
