I wish the City of Howard would cut the 6 foot tree that has grown up at the base of the utility pole at the corner of Jefferson and Walnut.
I wish the city of Howard would level the sidewwalks.
Has anyone heard how the street light replacement is coming along?
I would think the property owner should take care of that tree. ;D
I think the city owns the property or the county does. It is on the corner of the county road yard. The city mows it.
I would like for someone to explain the responsibility for sidewalks for me. I have always thought that the property owner was responsible but hope that I am wrong. Can anyone help?
We just replaced our sidewalk in front of our house on Washington Street in Howard, and we footed the entire bill. The city paid ONLY for the small part that extended across the alley by the Baptist Church which is the city right-of-way and the small part that went across the ditch onto Oak Street. The rest is the homeowner's responsibility.
I cannot speak for the city of Howard since we live in Moline. However, I am here to say we are very fortunate and grateful to have Robert Wilson as our 'City' man. He treats everyone as a neighbor, if he can help he will, and folks treat him the same way. When they can help with a project it is done as a concerted effort. Sort of like the old days when folks helped one another and the towns were a gathering of people who depended on one another; not a seperate entity such as citizen and city. We have litigation to thank for these attitudes, and I cannot quite blame any city for distancing themselves from their citizens. Too bad we cannot go back and 'redo' some of these things since we can now see the results in hindsight. And too bad that Howard does not seem to have the relationship between city and citizen that we are fortunate enough to have.
I think that we have good city men who has always gone out of their way to do whatever I needed done.
Phil and Tim and Kevin are very helpful and have gone the extra mile in many instances.
No matter what city or town you live in, there is always going to be those who find fault with the way things are done.
There is always things that need to be improved on, and if they are put on the agenda and brought up at the council meetings
( which are open to the public) then I would think that they will get taken care of. :)
We have lived in several different cities in different parts of the U.S., and sidewalks were always the responsibility of the property owner. We needed some drainage work corrected with the ditch being dredged out, and the City of Howard was very easy to work with. If there are logical requests for service, the needs are going to be resolved, but individuals have to be accountable for keeping their own properties up. I think this is a real issue in Howard--that so many properties have been allowed to deteriorate. The city shouldn't be expected to clean up or repair what belongs to individuals. Taxpayers are the ones who suffer.
And all this because a little tree across the street from me needs to be cut away from the utility pole that it is calling momma. It isn't causing any problems----yet.
Believe me, if the city had to take care of the sidewalks, I would have some that I could roll on.
In both Midland, Texas and here in Bartlesville, the sidewalk is the reponsibility of the property owner. In the house we just built, the builder/developer put in all of the sidewalks, and now it is up to us to maintain them. Frank
When my folks moved back to Howard, my Dad inquired to city hall about the dilapidated condition of the sidewalk along the front of his property.
They told him the sidewalk was his and the city had no responsibility.
He said you mean I can do anything I want with them and they said yes.
So he went home, tore the sidewalks out, and planted grass.
When I said sidewalks, I was refering to the sidewalk downtown. I have seen the elderly fall and be verry bruised up/ I myself fell several time trying to walk around the downtown area.
wonder if the business owners are responsible for the sidewaolks.
On one of my recent trips to Howard, I went to downtown Augusta where there were many sidewalks being torn up and redone.
When I mentioned the construction to the business lady, she said that she was glad it was a city-wide beautification effort. Otherwise she would have to do the replacement herself but could not afford to redo her frontage walk.
That would be a great idea for the downtown area. I wonder if there are any types of grants available for such a peoject???????
In the year 1986 I bought the building that I remodeled and which became The Touch of Country Beauty Salon...(my dream come true) The sidewalk was absolutely terrible...Fred and I were so worried that someone would fall because of it, and be injured. My personal liability insurance was pretty expensive...so to protect myself I asked the city if they would fix the sidewalk. I was told the sidewalk was MY responsibility. I had Ron Johnson pour me a new sidewalk --- and it improved the appearance of my business and I felt much better about the safety of those walking on it. But I really was surprised that the city sidewalks were the sole responsibility of the business person.
the sidewalks in front of this house I bought are horrible. Worst is where the "city" torn them up to, I assume, lay water and sewer lines because the water meter is right there. I inquired about repairs and was told it would be my responsibility. Sorry, when they figured my social security they forgot to include "sidewalk repair" :-\
I don't know about Kansas but Missouri has a grant program for redoing downtowns. They have done a LOT of work in downtown Neosho on the square. I think some of it was because the buildings had historical status, it really looks a lot better than it used to.
I read in the local paper that the city is pumping water out of a building that belongs to a person,not the city. WHY are we doing this? The person who owns this building should have to do this. We as tax payers don't want our taxes raised to pay for other peoples stuff they should be doing.
I saw that, too. I was wondering the same thing. I personally think the city needs to worry about all the abandon buildings around town, and also about structures that have burned down and the mess is still there. Can't the city do anything about this? I was just wondering.
Quote from: hhjacobs on June 20, 2008, 06:27:29 AM
I read in the local paper that the city is pumping water out of a building that belongs to a person,not the city. WHY are we doing this? The person who owns this building should have to do this. We as tax payers don't want our taxes raised to pay for other peoples stuff they should be doing.
Just what I was thinking when I read it. Why would they have to raise our taxes to pump out that water? I say pump it and send the owner a bill. If he doesn't pay, take him to court.
That's what Newark does too. High weeds, side walk repair and such, the owner gets period of time to have it fixed, then the city will do it and send a bill.
We used to have a hot-shot columnist in Wichita who took complaints and saw that they were enforced, sometimes to the detriment of the property owner. A typical response to a complaint for a house that was an eyesore/ needed repairs, or need attention to the lawn was a formal complaint to the city and if the owner was elderly, contacting their family and sending the owner to a care home. After which the property would be razed. I thought this was terrible, and no help at all except to the complaintant, or the columnist. I complained to the newspaper editor. It was not long before those types of complaints were no longer high lighted in that column. There could have been real help found other than the owner losing their home. I too hate to see messy property but try to remember that if I keep my own door step clean, I probably won't have much time to worry about someone elses. I suspect that there are many places that it would not make a difference if a levy were made, the taxes just would not be paid, and the city would have yet another piece of property to mow.
Park City had a Compliancte officer too. BTK
From all indications, he was a pretty good one too.
Oh Boooooo! :D :D
The city council voted 3-0 to replace the 24 decorative concrete light poles on Wabash with steel posts.
They had three choices according to the Flint Hills Express:
Westar would put up wooden poles at no charge,
The city could take the concrete posts over from Westar to own and maintain
Or, Westar could replace with steel poles.
The additional charges were $5.36 per pole per month or pay a one-time differential fee of $1,905. That sounds a lot cheaper than originally thought
Westar will replace four poles in the two hundred block of north Wabash as soon as possible and do the others when they find time. These four must be the ones that are in the worst shape.