Long-and short-term fixes for deteriorating sidewalks along part of Main Street in Sharpsburg are in the works.
Officials voted to have Borough Engineer Robert Zischkau prepare a bid package to replace the bricks along the river side of Main Street with cement.
While that project gets underway, property owners also have asked for replacement bricks to improve safety and prevent any issues with liability.
The crumbling bricks, which were paid for with money from the Federal Emergency Management Agency after flooding in the borough, were installed about nine years ago.
The company that provided the bricks, R.I. Lampus of Springdale, has agreed to provide new bricks for free but will not pay for installation.
The property owners are required to pay for costs related to maintaining sidewalks.
Officials met with property owners to discuss the project during a town hall meeting last week. The property owners indicated they would prefer cement sidewalks.
Joel Weiss, who owns several properties in the area, said that bricks are not practical.
“If you want the community to really look good, then cement is the proper thing to do,” Weiss said.
Councilman Matthew Rudzki said it is important for the sidewalks to be consistent no matter what the property owners decide.
“We need to get everyone on the same page so Main Street maintains its uniformity,” Rudzki said.
Borough officials will prepare a set of specifications along with representatives from the property owners that will be used for the project.
Borough secretary Jan Barbus said property owners can submit the number of replacement bricks they would like to have, and she will contact the borough engineer to get a temporary solution started.
“We can at least get that started with the replacement bricks,” Barbus said.
Tom McGee is an associate editor for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 412-856-7400, ext. 1513, or tmcgee@tribweb.com.
