The Wayland City Council Tuesday evening turned down a request from residents on Marlo Lane and Geneva Drive for an underground drainage system, but agreed to proceed with the street project this year without sidewalks.
More than 20 people who live on the two streets appeared at the council meeting to make the formal requests. Joshua Wright spoke on their behalf, saying they are concerned about safety, ditches in the area and the nuisance of lack of proper drainage of water.
“We feel we are being penalized for having large front yards,” he said. “We would be happy without sidewalks.”
He asserted that since the street project already is planned, it would make sense to do the drainage project as well. And because City Engineer Mickey Bittner said the work would be good for only 20 years, it would have to be revisited anyway.
Councilman Tim Rose agreed on the sidewalks issue and moved to have it struck from the project plans, even though proceeding would be contrary to the city’s master plan. His colleagues agreed in a unanimous 7-0 vote.
Bittner explained his remark about 20 years by pointing out that all estimates on projects are for years, it is customary in the business. He added that grading to ease the slopes created by ditches could be added in the project, but it would be costly for the underground drains.
Some residents then suggested they have a special assessment district established for the work, with homeowners sharing the bill. It was estimated the cost would be between $9,000 and $10,000 for each home.
Councilwoman Jennifer Antel, noting petitions signed by the residents, said she personally knows two people who do not want to pay extra for the drainage, but were afraid to speak up.
She maintained, “I don’t feel it’s in the best interests of the city to pay for a drainage system with a huge cost without 100 percent support of the residents who will have to pay.”
City Manager Josh Eggleston added, “I think we have to look at the original design (without sidewalks) as the optimum for the project.”
The vote was 7-0 not to include underground drainage in the project.
“I think we had a good dialogue and we had good meetings,” Antel added. “I think we made the right decision with the information we had.”
In other business at its meeting Tuesday night, council:
• Approved the appointments of Natalie Garcia and Chase Johnson to teh Downtown Development Authority and Corey Brown to the Zoning Board of Appeals, succeeding Joseph Hamilton.
• Approved the special use permit for the Lumberyard Events Center on Maple and railroad streets.
• Approved a special use permit for the Weighstation Events Center planned for adjacent to the Best Western Hotel.
• Adopted a resolution supporting a Redevelopment Ready Community baseline report provided by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.
• Was given a presentation by Eggleston on utility rate analysis, noting it is inevitable that rate increases will have to be implemented for sewer and water services.
“The do-nothing alternative can be very expensive,” the city manager said. “The longer you wait, the more painful it’s going to be.”
