By Chris Huntington

MILLVILLE -- City Engineer Wayne Shepherd will be allowed to make the final and binding decision concerning what work must be done to complete the Millville Hill Subdivision, the City Council decided last week.

The developer, Milton Anderson, has disputed the council's requirements concerning the amount and extent of work required to complete the project. The council's decision is aimed at bringing to a close this issue that has continued for more than a year.

"We are at the same point we were at a year ago," said Mayor Gale Hall.

The council unanimously approved a plan that gives Shepherd the responsibility of visiting the area, assessing what needs to be done, and reporting his recommendations concerning the disputed issues to the council, who will adhere to Shepherd's recommendations and require Anderson to do the same in order to finish the subdivision.

Specifically, members of the council are concerned with what they see as "extremely poor workmanship" on some of the sidewalks running through the subdivision. Council member Mike Johnson said Shepherd had visited the site and thought some areas of concrete were too porous, which would cause them to break up over time. Anderson said he had done a density test and that the sidewalks were fine.

Additional points of dispute are the replacement of driveway culverts on the individual lots, the drainage swells in front of each lot, the extension of 300 East, and plowing the snow in the winter.

Anderson feels that some of the council's requirements are "concerned with aesthetics" and not related to the residents' safety. He also informed the council that he had talked to all of the residents and found that they were not in favor of some of the work proposed by the council. Anderson said the proposed work completion is the individual homeowner's decision and not the council's.

"I certainly do not agree that 500 ft. of sidewalk should be replaced," Anderson said in a letter written to Mayor Hall. "I do agree that any part of the sidewalk that represents a safety hazard or represents a structural concern should be replaced." Anderson also agreed to replace areas of sidewalk next to residents who feel the sidewalk adjacent to their home is inadequate. Anderson said all other issues, which he deemed aesthetic, "should be discussed further."

Council member Jeff Kirby responded by saying that the council must be concerned with liability. Kirby also said the council was not being unfair by asking Anderson to adhere to the rules of development within the city.

Council member Rodney Hobbs questioned why residents would be unconcerned with issues that could potentially lower their property values.

"The goal of the council is to have the subdivision approved," said Hall. But he said approval would not come if the development was "not built to design standards."

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