My husband and I took a walk along Miami Street this morning from Kensington Avenue to Oakwood Drive on the south side of the street. We noticed the city maintenance garage has put its sidewalks in place and that some other homeowners have started theirs. I had heard because of the storm sewer (built because of flooding in that area, remember?) and the power poles, some residents will have to put their sidewalks as much as 15-20 feet from the street - practically through the middle of their front lawns and close to their front doors in some locations. Several home owners will have to remove their trees and shrubs and, of course, pay for all of that plus the new sidewalk. While the sidewalk may be seen as a benefit for some, it could prove to be a drawback for other homeowners because it may dam up the drainage again in the area and cause potential flooding of basements. I do hope the contractors for these sidewalks take drainage into consideration.
All this because some Tiffin University students were running in the street. So, I'm proposing a new city ordinance: "if there are sidewalks on a street and a person or team is walking or running in the street rather than using the sidewalk, they should be ticketed and fined $100 each." If the homeowners have to put in a sidewalk, everybody had better use them!
Susan Crumrine,
Tiffin
