By Fallan Patterson
Staff Writer

Despite the lack of funding, the St. Cloud City Council Feb. 17 reluctantly agreed to move forward with a proposed sidewalk plan that would help connect sidewalk segments on the state-named streets surrounding downtown.

Construction will only begin for segments the city can afford to do, using the sidewalk fund or through grants.

City officials hope that by having a specific proposal in place, the city can pursue grants for the 20-year plan, which would add 15 miles of sidewalks in the city’s grid, which is located from Lakeshore Boulevard to 17th Street and from Eastern Avenue to Budinger Avenue. The estimated cost of the project is between $1.3 million and $2.2 million over two decades.

Even with the city sidewalk fund, which is generated through fees on development, the city cannot afford the price tag, city officials said.

“No one can predict the future but I would say the sidewalk fund will increase,” City Manager Tom Hurt said about developmental growth in St. Cloud.

Council members were concerned about the financial impact of the plan and whether giving it the green light would mean having to use the general fund, which is generated through property taxes, for construction.

“People don’t want this right now. It’s a perception of wasting money,” Councilman Jarom Fertic said, adding he wanted all residents, including those living outside the grid, to have an opportunity to comment on each stage of the construction.

Todd Swingle, public services administrator, said that all recent sidewalk projects were supported by the sidewalk fund and that he hopes to move forward with the project for the grid.

“The grid area is certainly one of the neighborhood-type areas without sidewalks,” he said.

City staff presented the council with additional information at the workshop, explaining that out of the 4,600 mailers sent to residents and a link on the city’s website, only 38 responses were received about the sidewalk plan.

Of those 38 responses, 15 were opposed to sidewalks, mainly due to the financial impact, and six supported the plan.

The other 17 responses the city received are considered “general comments,” such as residents living outside the proposed grid area asking about sidewalks for their streets.

Mayor Rebecca Borders and and Councilman Russell Holmes voiced concern for the lack of connecting sidewalks allowing children to walk safely to and from school, particularly those having to cross busy 13th Street to St. Cloud High School.

“In the mornings when the high schoolers are on their way to school, they’re walking in the road,” Borders said.

While Swingle maintained that the plan was to have a priority in place, such as connectivity, Holmes wants the plan to focus on “where the children will benefit” from the sidewalks and “get to school safely.”

The sole audience member, Randy Cooper, of Wisconsin Street, expressed concern about the trees along the roadways being destroyed or removed because of the sidewalks.

“If you destroy those (trees), you’re going against the law,” he said. “The vast majority of people in town don’t use the sidewalks. They never have, they never will.”