Forced sidewalk project is nothing short of robbery

Sandpoint City Council's forced community sidewalk removal and replacement project is nothing short of robbery.

Walking around my neighborhood I noticed that every "old" sidewalk has been marked for replacement. By "old" mean that it just looks old, it has cracks and pock-marks in it, but is not dangerous. There are sidewalks that need replacing, where the sidewalk abruptly goes up or down, but, on a walk around my neighborhood the other night, I noticed that the majority of the sidewalks marked for replacing are fine sidewalks and not dangerous.

The estimated cost for replacement is $5-$6 per foot? Since the city wants to put in a four-foot wide sidewalk, a standard one side only sidewalk would cost about $1,100 I know my sidewalk is safe (except for the six-foot section the city put in a few years ago when they were working on the sewer).

I think the sidewalks should be repaired on "worst first" basis. I know I've got better things to spend $1,100 on than replacing a sidewalk that has served the community well for more than 50 years.

P.S. Stand by Coeur d'Alene, you're next!

GEORGE RICKERT

Sandpoint