By Ryan Berry

DailyAdvocate.com

GREENVILLE — The City of Greenville did not have an answer for Jana Deeter during its regular meeting of city council on Oct. 17. She addressed the council during the public hearing portion of the meeting regarding curbs and the questions some of the residents have brought to her.

Deeter is a regular contributor during the public hearing portion of the meeting and said she receives a lot of requests from residents to share their concerns during the council meetings. She pointed to a letter she received from one resident sharing their questions over the proposed curb policy and requiring residents to pay for curbs.

She said she doesn’t entirely understand the policy and doesn’t know what to tell residents when they ask her. “Is everybody going to have to replace the curbs or is it the people that have to replace sidewalks that have to replace curbs,” she asked. She also questioned whether the resident is responsible for the cost if the city snowplow takes out their curbs.

Council President Pro Temp Doug Schmidt responded, “Tell them to come on up to a meeting.” She explained that a lot of the people she talks to don’t want to be around a lot of people. That’s why they give her their concerns.

No one from the council or the administration addressed her concerns or questions over the curb issue. Without a word being said about the curb project, Schmidt moved the meeting forward and onto the next agenda item.

Safety Service Director Ryan Delk said Phase 1 of the Sidewalk Project has begun. ADC Concrete is currently in the downtown area and tearing out and replacing sidewalks on Third, Fourth and Fifth Streets. He said the contractor has been working with the downtown to businesses in order to keep them open during the process. Delk praised the communication effort the company is making with the businesses.

Delk gave an update on the State Route 502 water line project. He said the contractor has made the connection under the creek and has now begun moving out into the asphalt. Although they had a setback with a gas line, he expects they will continue their progress throughout the week.

Maintenance paving began this week in the city and residents should expect to see the work continue over the next couple of weeks.

Delk announced Transit Coordinator Erin Kies has resigned and the city is working on finding a replacement.

Law Director Michael Rieman piggybacked on the resignation announcement and praised Kies for being instrumental in bringing transit back under the city control with the hope of expanding services. Rieman added, “We’ve gotten to that point. I’m in the process of finalizing contracts with the county and we will be offering transit services to some county residents. A strong city and a strong county only makes us all better so we are excited to partner with them on that.”

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