City eyeing sidewalk to new medical clinic

The Washington City Council?s Street Committee is interested in installing sidewalks to the new Mercy Medical Clinic under construction on South Iowa Avenue. The committee met Wednesday afternoon and instructed City Engineer Rob McDonald to investigate the feasibility of that plan. McDonald said he will find out where the property line is of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), north of the clinic, to see if there is room to put a sidewalk there between the ditch and the church?s property line.

Committee Chairwoman Karen Wilson-Johnson proposed building a sidewalk on the east side of South Iowa Avenue from the intersection with Sitler Drive to Mercy Medical Clinic, which would go by the LDS church. She suggested splitting the cost of the sidewalk 50-50 with the property owners.

Committee member Merlin Hagie remarked, ?I think it?s a great idea to improve safety. It?s better to have a sidewalk than to walk through weeds and grass.?

The committee also talked about adding a sidewalk to Walmart on East Washington Street. Committee member Bob Shepherd said the sidewalk to the medical clinic is easier to justify.

?I think we?re on a lot stronger ground putting a sidewalk out there [to the medical clinic] than going to a business like Walmart,? said Shepherd. ?The reason is that this would be to a medical facility. There is no reason people from Halcyon House couldn?t walk there. There should be a sidewalk there. There is no reason why there?s not.?

Wilson-Johnson agreed the sidewalk to the medical clinic should be the committee?s top priority.

Mayor Sandra Johnson was also present at the meeting. She said people might object to both the sidewalks to Walmart and by the LDS church.

?You?re talking about giving something to a non-profit that doesn?t pay any taxes anyway (the church), and then giving something to a for-profit (Walmart) that is paying taxes,? said Johnson. ?Would people look differently on those??

Councilor Fred Stark was in the audience and said the LDS church could refuse the council?s request for a sidewalk because the church was built before the ordinance mandating sidewalks, and is therefore grandfathered in. Hagie said that if the city has right-of-way beside the church?s property, then the city can build a sidewalk whether the church wants it or not.

Wilson-Johnson added, ?We have places in town where the houses don?t have sidewalks, and if the city decides we want to put sidewalks in, we?re not asking them if they want to. It?s not a choice. They?re getting a sidewalk and they?re going to help pay for it.?

Wilson-Johnson said she would be surprised if the church were against the sidewalks.

?It?s a plus for them anyway,? said Wilson-Johnson. ?It would be against everything they stand for, to say, ?I don?t want to be part of a project that is going to help people.? No one wants to approach anybody with the attitude that, ?We?re doing this and that?s the way it is.? You want to be nice and work as a team on this.?

Hagie said the issue of who foots the bill can be decided later. He said the first order of business was determining whether the city had right of way by the church where it could lay a sidewalk.

McDonald said he was almost positive the city has the right of way by the church and the medical clinic. In an interview Thursday morning, McDonald said the state right of way extends about 55 feet east from South Iowa Avenue. He said he is still investigating whether there is enough flat ground in that space to build a sidewalk. He said he?d much prefer to build the sidewalk within the right of way instead of on the owners? private property.