Brookings city councilors have ordered the owners of a vacant lot near Camelot Intermediate School to install a sidewalk on their property.

The request for sidewalk installation came from the Brookings School District. Superintendent Roger DeGroot brought the issue before the city council last week. DeGroot wants sidewalks installed along 15th Street South between Medary Avenue and 17th Avenue South. But the highest priority for the district is sidewalk on the north side of 15th Street South, from Camelot Drive to the east, to provide a safe sidewalk connection for students to 17th Avenue South.

City Manager Jeff Weldon said all lots in the priority area have homes with sidewalks , with the exception of one parcel owned by BlairHill Properties directly east of the school.

"As you might imagine, this is a major pedestrian route for children going to this school. There is one parcel on the corner of Camelot Drive and 15th Street South that doesn't have a sidewalk in front of it. And the reason it doesn't is that it's not developed." are generally installed until a piece of property is developed , Ordinance 74-182 gives the city the power to require the owners to do so sooner under special circumstances, in advance of development, for public safety considerations.

DeGroot said not putting in a walkway will force young pedestrians and bicyclists out into the street. "That (area) is very heavily trafficked in the morning and after school. " We think that would really help the safety of our students.

"It's really a safety issue. I watch kids come and go to school, and they come down the sidewalk and then they'll go out (on the street) and around because it's dirt. You know what this fall has been like, nothing but mud. So it would be nice to get that paved and get the sidewalk in before the snow comes."

Property owner Scott Hodges said he supported providing a safe route for kids heading to and from the school. A 4-foot-wide sidewalk for 147.3 feet would cost the owners, Hodges and Keith Rounds, approximately $2,000. Who maintains it?

But Hodges and Rounds wanted to know who would maintain the walkway. "Sidewalks go in when a property is developed, when there's people living there in a home to maintain the sidewalks. We don't live there, and I think it's a big request to ask us to spend a couple thousand dollars on a sidewalk that would normally not be required and then have a maintenance requirement that goes along with it. " Someone's going to have to shovel those, because it's winter here about half the year.

"I just think it's kind of an unfair thing to expect us to maintain a walk that doesn't have any benefit to us." He added that the walkway would likely be damaged or have to be torn up when home construction does happen at the site.

Hodges suggested that the city or school district handle maintenance until a home is built there.

But both Weldon and DeGroot said they didn't want the city or the school district to get involved in maintaining private property. "It sets a dangerous precedent. I don't think we should go there," Weldon said. "We have enough of our own public areas to take care of, let along private property ." Owners' obligation

Councilor Mike McClemans said snow removal is a responsibility that comes with owning property. "To me, even if it's a bare lot, there's an obligation to clear a path for kids to go to school."

The council eventually voted 6-1 to order the property owners to install the sidewalk by Nov. 16, weather permitting. Rounds said he couldn't guarantee that he could find someone to get the work done in two weeks.

Councilor John Kubal provided the only "no" vote. He said he thought the sidewalk needed to be installed, but the deadline was too stringent. Kubal also said he would have liked to see all parties work out a "gentleman's agreement" on the issue rather than the council taking action and creating animosity.

Contact Jill Fier at jfier@brookingsregister.com.