MARION — During the Marion Common Council meeting Tuesday, President Nick McKinley proposed an ordinance that would require all alleys in Marion to be paved with asphalt.
The executive summary for the ordinance reads as follows, “Paving city alleyways enhances safety, accessibility and aesthetics by providing smooth, even surfaces. It reduces maintenance costs, prevents vegetation from growing through the ground, prevents alley dust and promotes cleaner environments. Additionally, paved alley ways help local businesses, increase property values and create more sustainable, attractive urban spaces for residents and visitors.”
McKinley said he spent some time looking into surrounding communities’ alleyways, and he found that Muncie was the only one to still have gravel alleyways. He noted that based on Google Maps, there is a bunch of overgrowth within these alleyways due to it being gravel.
“We are the legislative body of this city,” McKinley said. “We are representing our people. I just passionately believe that if we’re representing a district or the entire city, our people deserve some representation on how their alley are let alone their streets … Our alleys are deteriorating because there was not a plan in place… Even if we went with rock, we still need a plan... I don’t want our alleys to look like Muncie.”
Mckinley said the council had a discussion last year about paving alleyways when they were allocating the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. He said there was some discussion on how far the ARPA money would go towards using rock and asphalt.
“It’s my opinion that almost every alleyway should be paved,” McKinley said. “I just felt it was appropriate that this has a vote on the council.”
McKinley shared with the council about hearing negative feedback about using rock in alleyways.
“With this ordinance, I am open to amendments, I just want this to be a discussion,” McKinley said. “My request is that we at least get it to a public hearing and allow the public to have some input on this.”
When reading the full ordinance, McKinley said the city can allocate funds for alley paving through the general fund, grants, special assessments or any other sources the city may establish, such as cost sharing programs with property owners.
McKinley also said there are or can be exemptions for alleyways to use rock in cases due to environmental or structural concerns. He also talked about a flexible timeline of 10 years to pave the suitable alleyways, within the adoption of the ordinance.
According to Councilman Brian Cowgill, there are 463 alleys in Marion. It would cost $20,000 to pave one alley, making the project cost be around $9.3 million – just under $1 million per year if the city followed a 10-year plan.
Material discussion
Head of the Engineering Department Mike Graft talked about when the alleyways originally got paved under Ron Mowery’s administration from 1992-1999. Graft explained that roughly 40 percent of the alleyways were done with asphalt, and the rest was done in gravel.
“When they were done, they were done by the street department at that point,” Graft said. “The unfortunate thing is that they basically grated the stone that was there, and just put in an inch and a half of asphalt over top of stone.”
Graft explained some of the concerns with overlaying the alleys with asphalt. If the city were to add in more asphalt on top of what is already there, then there could be some drainage problems in people’s property. If the city were to use rock, water will be absorbed into the road.
Councilman Andrew Whitton said the constituents in Ward Five are upset because paved alleyways have been ground out and were replaced with gravel. He said they are worried about the longevity of using gravel as well as the dust during the summer. His only concern would be about the cost of the entire project.
“Ultimately, as the world revolves, it revolves around the funds,” Graft said. “I’ve always had conversations with Councilman Cline about wheel tax. I would constantly say ‘guys, this is coming, the state is going to force our hand,’ and now it’s come.”
The wheel tax in Grant County is an annual surtax on motor vehicles that are registered in the county will help fund road and bridge construction, repair and maintenance. The funds can also be used to obtain a grant for local road and bridge matching grants.
McKinley said counties distributes their current wheel tax to cities and towns within their boundaries.
“The state is proposing that the county would keep theirs (wheel tax), and we would have to enact an additional wheel tax for the city of Marion, to collect wheel tax dollars for us to be eligible to be able to receive the Community Crossings grant,” McKinley said. “It hasn’t finalized and we don’t know the final numbers. It just may be something that we are going to be forced to do if we want to get anymore grant money.”
Graft said if the city does not create a wheel tax, grants such as the Community Crossings Matching Grant fund will “dry up.”
McKinley suggested that if there is a wheel tax in place for Marion, the money could solely be used to pave the alleyways, since it would be additional revenue.
“I’m asking for a plan, no different than we do our streets,” McKinley said. “In order to be eligible for the Community Crossings grant, we have to submit a plan. I believe our alleys should have a plan as well.”
Vice-President Gary Fordyce said he doesn’t think that there can be a mandate for future administrations to pave the alleyways.
“The council has the ability to set the standards. It’s up to the administration to figure out how to both accommodate that within the budget and to administer it,” Council Attorney Marty Harker said. “It’s something that can be done. The wisdom of it is a different story.”
With more discussion and questions, the council voted to send this ordinance to a Public Works Committee. During the committee, McKinley wants to encourage the public to join the discussion to voice their opinions. A date for the committee meeting has yet to be made.
“I really want the general public to respond. We as a council want to know what they want,” McKinley said. “This is something that affects a lot of people in town.”