Residents push for sidewalks as others express concerns with sidewalk maintenance

The campaign to get sidewalks built on Hoyt Street continues as proponents of the project put forth an allocation to be included in the town's budget even as some neighbors have voiced concerns over the cost and maintenance of installing sidewalks.

Holly Schulz, who has pushed for sidewalks along Hoyt Street for years, proposed the town allocate $250,000 in the 2012-2013 budget in order to pay for the construction of the sidewalks. She based her proposal on the cost of replacing the sidewalks along West Avenue, which totaled $320,000, Schulz said in an email to the Board of Selectmen.

"The price estimated above is based on the most recent concrete sidewalk work that was completed in 2011 by the Town of Darien. The Department of Public Works spent more than $320,000 to demolish and dispose of the existing concrete walks, replacing them with new concrete walks along West Avenue (from Noroton to Rings End) and along Noroton (from Elm to Middlesex). This cost included both the contractor (materials and labor) and police (traffic management during construction)," Schulz said in the email.

Schulz also notes in her proposal the sidewalks would only stretch from Leeds Lane to Barringer Road along Hoyt Street if the town cannot come to an agreement with New Canaan to build sidewalks from Barringer Road to Talmadge Hill Road.

In total, Schulz estimated the construction would cost the town about $183,005 to build sidewalks from Leeds Lane to Barringer Road and New Canaan would potentially contribute about $45,751 to build sidewalks from Barringer Road to Talmadge Hill Road.

"As the cost to demo and dispose of the old walks in this comparative project is significant, we're assuming this may equate partially to the cost to do the site work necessary to prep for a new walk to be installed. There are obviously other variables, including a difference in the standard curb details used by the town versus those required by the State Department of Transportation," she said in the email.

However, not all of the neighbors along Hoyt Street felt sidewalks were necessary and voiced concerns over the cost to maintain the sidewalks during a BOS meeting last week.

Susan Coutermash Fieber, who lives along Hoyt Street, said she could neither maintain a sidewalk in front of her house or afford to pay for someone else to maintain it.

"Our concerns with Hoyt Street sidewalks are with the shoveling. We have to shovel the sidewalk because that's what I've been made to know. Who pays for that? I cannot do this nor can I pay for it. I'm physically disabled due to previous injuries. Who has thought about the autumn leaves that fall on the sidewalk? Who will handle that? Do I have to pay somebody $70 to $100 to do it?" Fieber asked.

Fieber's neighbor Carol Miller also spoke out against the sidewalks because she said she and her husband couldn't maintain the sidewalks and it could possibly force them remove their mailbox.

" I spoke to my mailman today and the problem is that the sidewalk impacts his ability to deliver mail. He said we may have to get a post office box," Miller said. "I've been here for 32 years. My property is 200 feet with two driveways. I'm disabled with arthritis and I have torn rotator cuffs. Are we to be guardians of this sidewalk?"