City to pay post-storm sidewalk repairs

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE)--Leaders with the city of Fort Wayne have decided to front the cost of repairing several sidewalks damaged by the June 29 storm.  It's a decision that some are calling a double-standard.

On Wednesday, the Board of Public Works made the decision to repair 23 sidewalks across the city.  On June 29, 90 mph straight-line winds uprooted trees which damaged sidewalks.

City leaders said homeowners have been responsible for fixing sidewalks in Fort Wayne since 1946.  But the city's decision to repair sidewalks damaged on June 29 is an unusual situation.

"It is an act of God where some old trees in a lot of cases were completely uprooted.  They pulled curbs and gutters out of the side of the road.  They pulled the park strip up and the sidewalk in some cases," said Frank Suarez with the city of Fort Wayne.  "Because of the fact that so many of them were destroyed quickly, there was a need we believe to repair these 23 sites as quickly as possible and get those taken care of."

15 Finds Out spoke with Sharon Parnin about her sidewalk concerns on August 15.  The June 29 storm blew down a tree in front of her home, damaging the sidewalk she desperately needs.  Parnin, 73, had a stroke in 2003 and has been in a wheelchair ever since.

"I can't even run my wheelchair over it.  I have to go in the street and go around," Parnin said.  "It's scary because they drive around here so fast sometimes maybe they won't see me."

Normally, Parnin would have had to pay at least a portion of the cost to get the sidewalk fixed.  But her sidewalk is one of the 23 in which the city will be fronting the cost.

The city's decision came as a surprise to Ruthie Ilnicki.  The roots of trees in her Fort Wayne neighborhood damaged the sidewalks there.  That's why, two years ago, she and everyone else in the neighborhood association had to pay to repair them.  Ilnicki's total expenses were about $3,000.

"The city was agreeable to pay for 40 percent of the repair work and we would have to pay as homeowners the remaining 60 percent," Ilnicki said.

Ilnicki is thankful people like Parnin will get their sidewalks fixed, but said it begs the question, how can the city choose one "act of God" over another.

"The trees growing and uplifting the sidewalks, that is definitely an act of God as well.  So what is the difference?  I don't know," Ilnicki said.  "But really, truly they're one in the same."

Money to repair the 23 sidewalks will come out of the city's general fund.  The city hopes to get some of that money back from state and federal funds later.  Suarez said the 23 sidewalks will be repaired by November.

At this point, it's unclear how much the sidewalk repairs will cost.  The city is taking bids and will choose a contractor Wednesday, September 5.