City Council members heard 11 new ordinances ranging from rezoning to grant applications at Monday night’s meeting.
Councilman Kent Butler, D-1st Ward, introduced an ordinance to apply for grants to help fund the Safe Routes to School project, which has an estimated cost of $120,000.
If received, the grant would be used to fix sidewalks on Madison Avenue, Morris Avenue and Elmwood Place, as well as to extend the Merkle Alley stairs down to East State Street.
“The Merkle Alley is falling apart and isn’t being utilized right now,” Butler said.
In addition to restoring parts of the city, including the reconstruction of sidewalks, kids will be able to safely walk to school while staying healthy and fighting childhood obesity, Butler added.
“This is a collaborative effort between volunteers from the schools — both parents and administrators — and city officials,” he said. “We work together to jump through hoops in identifying areas within the city that would most benefit.”
A motion to amend the ordinance that would change the zoning classification between Utah Place and Townsend Place was raised and passed last night after residents raised their concerns to council members.
Communication about this issue has been public, said Chris Fahl, D-1st Ward.
“I think that with this zoning you have to be able to balance different types of desires and needs,” she said. “This (ordinance) is trying to balance the desires of neighbors with other desires that have been put forward. At one point, we need to say, ‘This is it, we need to go on,’ and council needs to make a decision.”
Having been through numerous discussions, the ordinance had already undergone several changes before last night’s first reading. However, landowner Pete Good said he thinks that the ordinance worked out well for everybody.
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