By Ryan Berry

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — Water and sewer price hikes and sidewalks have already hit pocketbooks for Greenville residents. Now, Greenville City Council is edging toward getting into the wallets of residents once again. On Tuesday, Oct. 3, council heard a report from the Utility Committee regarding curbs. Council unanimously accepted the report.

According to the report, the committee discussed multiple ways of paying for new curbs and settled on the homeowner either paying the cost upfront or having the cost assessed on their taxes over a period of 10 years. The replacement of curbs will follow the street paving schedule beginning with the 2025 schedule. However, the work on the curbs will need to be done in 2024 to prepare the way for paving the following year. If a street is scheduled for paving in 2025 or after, and if the resident’s property has curbs that are in need of repair, they must be replaced. Following the meeting, Committee Chairman Clarence Godwin stated If the property does not have curbs, the city will not require curbs to be installed. In addition to Godwin, committee members include Councilmen Chris Norris and Brian Brown.

Godwin said the committee did look at ways to raise funds to replace the curbs. They originally thought of using some of the paving funds, but decided they didn’t want to take away from the paving that needs addressed in the city. They also considered putting a tax on the ballot but felt voters would not approve, especially since there would be residents that don’t have curbs paying for the curbs of other residents. In the end, Godwin and his committee believe the best approach is having the property owner pay for the curbs.

Jeff Whitaker asked Safety Service Director Ryan Delk if sidewalks and curbs were covered under the same section of the Ohio Revised Code. Delk affirmed its was correct. Whitaker asked, “It’s nothing that we are adding to this. This is something property owners are responsible for both sidewalks and curbs on their property, right?” Delk responded that his assessment was correct. Whitaker suggested this was good for Greenville and would increase property values.

Council approved an ordinance that would allow Brightspeed to have 300 street openings for the installation of fiber optic cable. It was noted the majority of these openings would be in the right-of-way and not in the street. Brightspeed is the second internet company to install fiber optics in the city, which will give residents a choice when it comes to internet companies. Omnifiber is currently installing fiber optic cable throughout the city. Brightspeed suggested approximately 90 percent of their cable will be hung from utility poles rather than being underground.

Council approved a resolution that authorizes the Safety Service Director to purchase three new 2024 Ford Explorer Police Interceptors for the police department. The city’s first choice is to go through Dave Knapp Ford for the purchase, but if unable to do so, they will have to go through the state’s purchasing program. The city believes it will be less expensive to go through the local dealership, but due to a lack of vehicles available, they may need to go through the state.

To contact Daily Advocate Editor Ryan Berry, email [email protected].