By Jason Stuart
Ranger-Review Staff Writer
The City of Glendive is ready to sign residents up for a program designed to improve the city’s sidewalks and to help city residents spread out their cost for doing so.
Under Glendive city code, sidewalk maintenance and repair is, in most cases, the responsibility of property owners. At one point, the city had developed a program to help property owners tackle sidewalk repair without having to pay for it up front.
Under that program, which was last utilized in 2008, property owners needing sidewalk repair could sign up to have their sidewalk repaired, their curbing repaired, or both, with the cost of the work assessed on their city taxes over the next 10 years. (Like sidewalks, curb repair and maintenance is the responsibility of the abutting landowner under city code.)
The old program fizzled out in 2008 because at that time, the city had difficulty finding any contractors willing to do the work, according to Public Works Director Jack Rice.
Now, however, since the downturn in the Bakken oil boom, contractors are not nearly as hard to come by, and the city is hoping for a high rate of participation by local residents in the new program to make some serious headway in sidewalk and curb repair in town in 2017.
Beginning now and running through the end of February, Rice is accepting sign-ups for the new sidewalk and curb program. Just like the previous program, property owners who sign up for it can check to have their sidewalks repaired, their curb repaired or both, with the cost of the work assessed to their property taxes and spread out over the next 10 years.
One thing Rice stressed is that coming in to sign up for the program does not obligate you to it.
“At this point, we’re just trying to gauge interest,” he said. “Signing up does not lock you into the program.”
At the end of February, Rice will tally up how many people have signed up and “see what kind of project we can put together.” People who signed up will get an estimate of their cost once the city receives bids, and then they’ll be able to choose whether to stay involved in it or not.
“Then we will contact each property owner and say ‘It looks like what you signed up for will cost this much, so do you still want to go forward with the program,’” Rice said.
What Rice and other city officials are hoping for is that entire blocks of residents will sign up for the program. For one thing, Rice noted that there are several city blocks around town that very much need sidewalk and curb repair, and he encouraged neighbors to talk to each other and try to work together to get as many people on their block signed up as possible.
However, it’s not just about replacing as much crumbling sidewalk and curb as possible, as Rice noted that the more people sign up, the better the bid the city will get for the work, which will ultimately end up costing everybody who participates less.
“That’s what’s going to bring the cost down for the contractors,” Rice said of having as many people as possible sign up for the program.
To sign up for the sidewalk program, visit Rice at his office in city hall or contact him at 377-3318 ext. 15.
Reach Jason Stuart at rrreporter@rangerreview.com.