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Work on private land receives village scrutiny
(by Joseph Koziol Jr. - May 16, 2012)
Work on private land receives village scrutiny
By JOSEPH KOZIOL JR.
A few eyebrows were raised Monday when Burton Village Council looked at two municipal projects on private property.
The issues that caused some council members to take pause are the mowing of tree lawns along the business district on North Cheshire Street and a proposed paving of an alley behind those businesses on the west side.
Councilman Jeff Coleman asked that the alley-paving project be pulled from a list of road work planned for this year in the village. "I'm on board with the rest, but I don't know if I'm comfortable with that," he said.
Mr. Coleman said the village has done research and determined that the alley is not a public right of way. It belongs to the business property owners, he said.
Council agreed to put the proposed alley paving on hold and voted to shift $23,603 from the general fund to cover road work along Kirtland, North Cheshire and Hickox streets, Road Lane and Huff Avenue.
Council members also questioned why village road crews were being asked to mow in front of businesses along North Cheshire Street.
Mr. Coleman again questioned whether that's something the village should be doing. If a homeowner fails to mow his tree lawn, he asked whether the village would say, "We'll take care of that for you." He said the village doesn't even mow tree lawns that are in the public rights of way.
Councilman Craig Ronyak agreed. "Can you do mine?" he asked. It doesn't seem right that the village would pick and choose who gets that service, he said. "It's not our property. Why do it for some and not others?"
Marty Motil, village street foreman, said he was asked by higher-ups to do the work. "Am I supposed to tell my bosses no?" he asked.
He said the tree lawns in front of the businesses have taken on an uneven appearance, because owners did their mowing on different days. He said the mowing takes about 20 minutes each week.
Council President Linda Swaney said she's not sure council had all the facts on the two projects. She said an explanation will be provided when Mayor Nicholas Fischbach, who was absent from the meeting, is at council's next meeting in two weeks.
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