SOUTHWICK – DPW Director Randy Brown discussed the town’s sidewalk revolving account with the Select Board on Monday night.
Passed by the voting residents at the annual town meeting in May, the sidewalk revolving account allows developers in town to deposit money into this account if they don’t need to put sidewalks at a certain area of the subdivision they’re building. This would allow the money to be used to maintain other sidewalks in town that desperately need it.
Usually, the town bylaw requires developers to install sidewalks on both sides of the road, and sometimes the developer is granted a waiver by the town to not add the sidewalks.
Town Counsel Ben Coyle (left) speaks to the Select Board while DPW Director Randy Brown (right) looks on. (Photo by Greg Fitzpatrick)
At the meeting on Monday evening, town counsel Ben Coyle first went through the regulations of the revolving account. Brown then discussed with the Select Board which areas in town they believed would need funds for this account.
It was determined that Depot Street will be the first street in town that will benefit from the sidewalk revolving account.
“The sidewalks are in pretty poor condition,” said Brown. “They are right up against the road.”
Close to the rail trail, the sidewalk is a well-traveled lane that gets a lot of use from walkers, runners, and bicyclists.
“That seemed like a good candidate for the first project,” said Brown.
According to Brown, while there’s currently no funding in the revolving account, he’s speaking with the developer of The Greens subdivision to identify a value that they will put into the account for both the East Side and the West Side of the subdivision.
Brown is pleased to see that this fund for sidewalk issues in town is moving forward.
“We’re always looking for funding to address these capital projects,” said Brown. “We’re maximizing any source we can find.”
