Sidewalk Battles
By: Tiffany Bittner
Tiffany Bittner is a senior at the Univeristy of Wisconsin - Eau Claire. Tiffany is working towards a major in Print-Journalism and a minor in English Literature. She plans on continuing her education in Madison. Eventually she would like to be an editor for Film or Television.
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EAU CLAIRE, Wisc. – Imagine you and your family preside in a nice little neighborhood outlined by beautiful trees. To go along with that your backyard is a bit of a swamp and your front yard is really the only place to get any hardcore playtime in. You don’t like to play? Well, instead, imagine you’ve spent years upon years working on the landscaping and there is a proposal to plop a sidewalk right on top of where your landscaping is, not to mention the removal of 17 trees.
This is what the Eau Claire City Council met to discuss this past Tuesday, with the decision the following Wednesday. A proposal was made on Tuesday to upgrade a water main from 6 inches to 8 inches as well as a plan to install a sidewalk. However, the issue, said Deputy City Engineer Doug Derks, is the location of the proposed sidewalk that would require the termination of 17 trees along Drummond.
The residents who live on Drummond, that appeared at the meeting were definitely not in favor of the sidewalk. Judge Tom Barland, one of the Drummond residents, was at the council meeting and listed a number of reasons why a sidewalk just doesn’t make sense in this area of Eau Claire. The thing that he seemed to be more concerned about was that his “landscaping would be destroyed.” He also stated that he has an irrigation system in his yard that would be compromised if the city were to put a sidewalk through his yard, not to mention that an “ugly retaining wall” would be needed, said Barland.
Other residents from Drummond reiterated Barlands complaints about the proposed sidewalk and also brought up that this side of town is basically carless and that it is almost odd to see a car drive through their neighborhood therefore making it a safe place for people to walk on the street if need be.
Mary Jo Cohen said there are a “lot of places in the city that could and should be repaired” before Drummond street should be considered.
David Usher, the only resident of Drummond street who has young children said that there is no safety issue even for his children who frequently play in the front yard of their home. Dennis Franko, another of the Drummond street occupants said, “We can spend the city money in a lot better ways.” This seemed to be the general consensus of the rest of those who showed up to motion against this proposal.
Council member Dave Duax questioned what differentiates this neighborhood from others that have had the same issues. Ned Donnelan was at the podium at this point and answered confidently that, “Other neighborhoods were safety issues [and that] it was not in the interest of the community.” Another difference that Ken Fulgione brought to the council was that the loss of 17 trees has the ability to make a substantial “ecological difference.” He went on and said that in the summer they are able to turn off the air conditioning in the shade of the trees which makes a difference in his families energy bills.
On Wednesday, the City Council met again to make the decision on the Drummond street sidewalk proposal as well as proposals for other street and sidewalk upgrades. In the end the council voted 8 to 3 on a proposal to defer the proposed upgrade and 10 to 1 on the actual deferral which means there will be no sidewalks on Drummond in the near future.