Brighton Residents Concerned with City Sidewalk Conditions; Hope to Pass $5.69 Million Bond

The deteriorating condition of City of Brighton sidewalks and streets has not gone unnoticed by city residents.

In fact, it's kind of hard to not notice when you trip right over one, as was the case with Brighton Garden Club Past President Coral Adas last weekend during the Fine Art & Acoustic Music Festival in downtown Brighton.

Adas took a nasty fall between 623 and 609 W. Main Street and decided to on Brighton Patch. The sidewalk was repaired by the Department of Public Services after Adas made a call on Monday.

"This is a very dangerous situation and the City of Brighton has already repaired this piece of sidewalk," Adas said in her blog. "Unfortunately, there are many other places of sidewalk that need to be replaced for the safety of walkers."

Adas said she hopes that the city's proposed bond issue for the November election will pass so repairs can be taken care of and nobody else will be seriously injured while walking in Brighton.

City Council members approved a $5,590,000 million bond issue that would improve core infrastructure projects in the city such as sidewalk repairs along with residential curb and gutter improvements, residential street reconstructions, install a Brighton Lake Road sidewalk, replace police patrol car video system, install sidewalks to eliminate current gaps and upgrade current city camera monitoring system from six cameras to 24 cameras.

The estimated annual millage rate for the bond issue will be 1.1233 mills, which is slightly lower than the current 1.1889 mills city taxpayers are paying this year, according to City Manager Dana Foster. The bond would be sold in two phases, one in 2013 and one in 2015, and will last a term of 20 years, if approved.

The current millage reflects the last full year of debt service payments on the 1996 Street Improvements Bond Issue.

Former Brighton Area Schools teacher Diana Worthy-Grant commented on Adas' blog, saying she's afraid to walk around the city without looking down after falling down twice.

"The city of Brighton is just waiting for a major law suit to happen with all of the uneven sidewalks," Worthy-Grant said. "Perhaps in the future, when planting trees, someone whom has a knowledge of growth will decide where to plant trees."

Tracy Doell commented on Brighton Patch's Facebook Page about the city's bond issue.

"This is to help retain Brighton's sidewalks, streets, and even make things better," she said. "And it's peanuts per year to tax payers."

What do you think? Will you vote for the bond issue in Novemeber? Tell us in the comments.