Ask Mr. Answer Person: "Why doesn't the city follow its own guidelines and put in sidewalks on the property it owns?"

City-owned property on Riverside Avenue

(Tom e-mails Mr. Answer Person: "If the City of Decorah wants property owners to install sidewalks on their property, why doesn't the city follow its own guidelines and put in sidewalks on the property it owns?")

Mr. Answer Person says: "Sometimes, Mr. Answer Person feels like he's in a room of 3-year-olds saying 'That's not fair!'  But the City of Decorah has realized it has to practice what it preaches.

Take, for instance, the property on Riverside Avenue at Water Street, which does not have a sidewalk.  City Administrator Chad Bird says the city plans to put a sidewalk on the property.

Bird says the plan is for the city to follow the five-year roll-out plan discussed by the Planning & Zoning Commission.  That means city-owned property in the center of town will get new sidewalks first, with other city-owned property getting sidewalks in each of the next four years of the program."