Port to proceed with controversial sidewalk plan

A controversial plan to install sidewalks along Hales Trail and other bluff-area roads in Port Washington will move ahead this summer.

A contract for the sidewalk work was approved last week by the Board of Public Works, and no further action is needed to move the project forward,  City Administrator Tony Brown said.

The Common Council, which was to meet Wednesday, Feb. 17, does not have to approve a $200,000 contract to install sidewalk on Hales Trail, Crestview Drive and Sunrise Drive, he said.

That ruling frustrated Mayor Marty Becker, who in the past has opposed the project to the point of threatening a veto.

“It was a gallant fight, and I’m still not happy,” Becker said Tuesday, adding he cannot veto an approved public works contract. 

While in the past these contracts have gone to the Common Council for approval, Brown said, that isn’t necessary because the Board of Public Works has the power to award contracts.

Public Works Director Rob Vanden Noven said a recently approved purchasing policy states that if a project is approved by the council and aldermen have allocated funds for it, the Board of Public Works can approve the contract for the work as long as the project is within budget.

The bluff sidewalks have been approved by the Common Council at least twice in recent years, he said.

Although bids for the project came in over budget at $213,000, the Board of Public Works last week capped the contract at $200,000 after Vanden Noven said city crews could handle enough of the landscaping work to meet the budget.

Becker said he was unaware the contract would not be heading to the council for approval when he spoke against the work at last week’s Board of Public Works meeting.

“I think I just didn’t understand the process,” he said. “It’s been approved so it’s a done deal.”

Becker reiterated the fact he does not believe sidewalks should be installed, particularly on Crestview Drive, where they would extend from Noridge Trail to Briarwood Lane, and Sunrise Drive, where they are to be installed from Crestview to Hales Trail.

If sidewalks must be installed on Hales Trail, he said, he would prefer only adding sidewalk to one side of the street and splitting the cost between the property owners on both sides of the street.

Property owners have opposed the installation of sidewalks, saying there is no need for them and citing the fact their subdivision was designed to have a rural feel that doesn’t include the walkways.

However, officials and some residents have called for sidewalks to be installed, saying they are an important part of creating a pedestrian friendly community and provide a much-needed, safe walkway to Upper Lake Park, one of the city’s premier recreational areas and home to Possibility Playground.