Abby to keep grass alleys open for residents
Reversing course from a month ago, Abbotsford’s city council voted Monday to keep three unimproved alleys open for potential traffic, as long those who damage the city-owned land are held accountable through a stricter ordinance.
Jory Podevels, 306 W. Butternut St., presented a petition at Monday’s meeting with 38 signatures from his neighbors who want to keep the grass alleys open between Butternut and Sycamore and Sycamore and Hemlock streets.
Podevels said he and his neighbors were taken aback when they received an Aug. 2 letter from the city informing them that the alleys behind their houses would be blocked off. He noted that he got signatures from 21 out of 22 occupied homes on the 300 blocks of Butternut, Sycamore and Hemlock.
“I’m asking you take us, the residents’ opinion, into consideration before taking action that will affect our properties that we pay taxes on,” he told the council during public comment.
The proposal to close off access to the alleys came from DPW Craig Stuttgen, who said his crew spends a lot of time fixing grassy areas damaged by vehicles that drive through the alleys.
“I’m not saying I have the right answer,” he said. “All I’m saying is that we have to do something, and what we have now is not working.”
Stuttgen showed the council pictures of deep ruts left behind by vehicle tires and filled up with rain water. He shared several stories of his crew having to repair the damage on city-owned land.
“Every existing puddle becomes a city problem,” he said.
Adding gravel to the alleys is not as easy as it might seem due to storm water drainage issues, Stuttgen said.
“What we have here is not something we can dump gravel on top of right now,” he said. “We would have to dig that out, add some storm sewer, tie it in and get the water out of there.”
Stuttgen pointed out that companies with utility status, such as cable TV and electrical, cannot legally be denied access to the city’s right-of-ways, even if they happen to damage the land.
“It’s not the residents causing a majority of the damage,” he said. “A lot of times it’s contractors who go in there to unhook a cable and they’re too lazy to carry their ladder in.”
Ald. Kayla Nixdorf, a local EMT, wondered what would happen if there was a fire or medical emergency, and ambulances or fire trucks needed to access the backs of the houses.
“I don’t even have a good answer for you on that one, to be honest with you,” Stuttgen said.
City attorney Bill Gamoke, who attended Monday’s meeting, wasn’t even sure if the city could legally put up a gate or chain to block off the alleys.
The city does have an ordinance in place that deals with people who cause damage to streets or other public property. Gamoke said the ordinance could be used to recoup damages, whether they are done by a utility company or a private landowner.
“If you could prove who it is, you just issue a citation,” he said. “If you’ve got an ordinance, you also make it go on as a special assessment on their tax bill.”
When collecting signatures on his petition, Podevels said everyone in his neighborhood is fine with taking care of the alley spaces behind their houses.
“The opinion and feedback I got back is there’s not a problem,” he said. “We’re upkeeping it, we’re mowing it.”
Podevels also pointed out that most of the other blocks in that part of the city have gravelled or partially gravelled alleys that allow for garages.
Ald. Dale Rachu said he’s fine with turning more of the upkeep responsibility over to the residents along the alleys. Rachu recommended sending a letter to the property owners letting them know it is up to them to fix any ruts or other damage done to the alleys.
“If property owners do the damage, they do the fixing, and if they don’t want to do the fixing, it stays rutted up,” he said. “It’s not our problem.”
Gamoke said the city may want to consider implementing a weight limit for the alleys and installing signs to prevent people from entering them with oversized vehicles.
While voting to keep the alleys open, the council also directed Stuttgen to work with Gamoke on an ordinance that to address damage issues with alleys.
Other business
_ The council approved a permit for Mike Hryndej to re-grade his property at 208 N. Second St. As part of the permit approval, Hryndej must open up a culvert he blocked when he moved the soil around at his property.
Hryndej actually re-graded his property without getting the proper permit ahead of time.
“Nobody here knew that he needed a permit,” said city administrator Dan Grady.
Ald. Kayla Nixdorf, however, said she was able to find an ordinance requiring a permit right on the city’s website.
“I found it plain and simple,” she said.
When he filled in his lot with additional dirt, he blocked a pair of culverts and forced water to flow across the street. This caused storm water to flood his neighbors’ properties. Two of them, Jim Colby and Jose Zuniga, threatened to file a civil lawsuit against Hryndej unless he fixed the situation.
The council ordered Hryndej to uncover one of the culverts so that storm water would no longer flow toward the Colby and Zuniga properties.
_ The council voted to order Jim Colby, 219 N. Second St., to tie his sump pump directly into the city's storm sewer, in accordance with city ordinances. Colby objected to the order, saying his sump pump discharge wasn’t causing any problems. Ald. Roger Weidemen voted no, and Alds. Kayla Nixdorf and Sarah Diedrich both abstained from voting.
_ The council approved the purchase of two digital video cameras for the police department interview rooms, at a cost of $10,390 from WatchGuard Video, which also provides the department’s dash cameras.
_ The council approved a payout of unused paid time off totalling 159.42 hours for Grady. At $35 per hour, that equals a payout of roughly $5,580.
_ The council approved the installation of an east-facing flashing stop sign at the intersection of Pine Street and Fourth Avenue. The money being used is left over from a Girl Scouts donation that was also used to put up flashing lights near the schools.
_ The council approved a professional services agreement with MSA Professional Services, in the amount of $30,000, for administering the city’s $1 million Community Development Block Grant.
_ The council approved a final pay request of $213,554 from Switlick and Sons for work done on North Fourth Avenue this past summer. The total construction cost was $604,405, or about $155,000 under the engineer’s estimate.
_ The council approved a final pay request of $6,321 from Steen Construction for work primarily done last summer on West Hemlock Street.
_ The council approved a pay request of $142,610 from Steen Construction for a storm water installation recently completed on West Linden Street.
_ The council approved motions ordering the residents at 417 N. 2nd St. and 417 N. 3rd St. to repair their driveways so they do not damage the city’s snowplowing equipment.
_ The council approved the purchase of a 2021 Ford F-150 pickup truck from Abby Ford, at a cost of $27,112, for the water department. The department has over $36,000 in its vehicle replacement fund to more than cover the purchase.
_ The council approved a tobacco license and Class B beer license for El Posito, a new downtown store at 104 N. First St. Ald. Jeremiah Zeiset voted no on both motions.
_ The council approved an alcohol operator’s license for Isabel Viranda. Ald. Zeiset abstained from voting.
