FENWICK ISLAND – A recommendation to fund an engineering study to further Fenwick Island’s efforts to install a continuous sidewalk system will go before the town council later this month.
Last Thursday, the Fenwick Island Pedestrian Safety Committee, or Sidewalk Committee, met with Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT) representatives to renew discussions on a proposed sidewalk along the town’s commercial corridor. This was the committee’s first meeting with DelDOT representatives since December.
Despite the group’s recent hiatus, DelDOT representative Maria Andaya told the committee Fenwick Island would receive an engineering study, which will bring the town closer to achieving its goals of establishing a continuous sidewalk system.
“I got the approval,” she said, “but there was a requirement that since we are using federal funding that we require a 20-percent match from the town to do a study.”
The requirement, Andaya said, would mean Fenwick Island would have to provide $14,000 of the $70,000 study.
Committee member Bill Weistling questioned the timeframe in which the study would begin.
“What is the timeframe on the engineering study?” he said. “When will it start and when will it be completed?”
DelDOT representative Anthony Aglio said dependent upon the town’s agreement to fund 20 percent of the study, work could begin within the next two months.
“I’m hoping it would take no longer than a year to complete,” he said.
While the study would bring the town one step closer to a sidewalk system, some committee members voiced their concerns over certain obstacles they could encounter.
Aglio noted that the town could need permanent easements in some areas of town to install the sidewalks.
“Long story short, the more temporary construction easements and permanent easements we need the more it will cost and the less money we will spend on construction,” he said.
Councilman and committee member Richard Mais, however, said property owners were never told about any potential easements when the town approached the owners at a prior meeting.
“That’s not what we said to business owners,” he said. “All we’ve said was you may have been using some of the state’s right-of-way and property for your parking lot and we may have to adjust that. We talked about angled parking and things like that. But now I’m hearing that we may need to buy some of their property to do the sidewalks and that changes a little bit for me. … It changes what I think may potentially be some obstacles.”
Weistling said he was concerned the town would fund another study that would not be used. The committee noted the town had spent $60,000 for a sidewalk study years ago, but the project never came to fruition.
“You all did a major study years ago and the town did a landmark study, which we paid for,” he said. “Now we are putting money into this. Do you think this would actually be a ‘go’ a couple of years from now?”
Andaya assured the committee the engineering study would lead to a project, in which sidewalks would be installed in phases.
“I don’t want to see any more plans that will just sit on the shelf,” she said. “We want to phase this and we want to design for something that is manageable.”
Following further discussion, the committee voted unanimously to recommend the town council allocate $14,000 to proceed with the engineering study. The group also agreed to invite business owners and other community stakeholders onto the committee.
