West Side Story
Dear Editor:
No, this isn't a story about a classic movie or book from the 1960s or '70s. But it is a story that originated back in the 1970s concerning the City of Delta.
Having lived in the same home since 1978 (it was a three-year-house at the time) to the present day, once you hear this story it is easy to understand why I am so extremely frustrated by former City of Delta managers and city council administrations, that I am boiling over. This story is about why in the world don't ALL city streets in the city limits of Delta have the good old basic curb, gutters and sidewalks they were supposed to have gotten way back 35 or more years ago? How ironic that the DCI would publish a photograph (1/23/2013) of workers in the lovely Town of Cedaredge laying down fresh concrete sidewalks in 1969 but the huge (by comparison) City of Delta still can't git 'er done 40+ years later! Am I supposed to wait another 35 years for these basic amenities?
ALL new construction in the city is mandated to have curb, gutter and sidewalk installed. So is the city saying to developers "Do as I say and not as I do?" I have heard that the city is planning a sidewalk project out in the 1600 Road area that they will charge each residence a fee of $2,500 for. Wow, is the city only willing to do the areas of the city that have to pay their own way?
One has to wonder HOW did the city receive its "All America City" award with such unsightly neighborhoods that litter the west side of Delta? Have you gone more than two blocks west of Main Street lately? Have you seen the mud bogs in front of our homes, complete with non-functioning culverts for drainage? I know that no city council members have such atrocious conditions in front of their homes! I also am quite sure that whomever the City of Delta paraded around to show off their gleaming city to back then never took those folks more than 1 block west of Main Street or the city surely would not have gotten such a prestigious award!
It is my understanding that these infrastructures were bought and paid for in the 1970s. I certainly know that I signed a petition in the 1990s that was circulated for presentation to city council to get this done once and for all. Instead, we got a new golf course (which I have never been to), a truck bypass route (which I was against in its proposed location), sidewalks installed in North Delta on Hwy. 50 for over 1/2 mile (which I will never use), Main Street restification and beautification projects every few years, and even had most of the street corners that did have sidewalks get their concrete corners chopped down and redone to allow for wheelchair and bicycle access (I am not in a wheelchair quite yet).
I also readily acknowledge the fact that there are NUMEROUS other streets inside the city limits with the same issue and some are even (heaven forbid!) on Garnet Mesa. Portions of Dodge, Columbia, Palmer, Silver, King, West 4th, Howard, Garnet, Sloan, Elizabeth, Jensen, Brown, Labor just to mention some I have noticed. I am quite sure there are many more.
I have heard all kinds of excuses from city managers and city council members in the past that range from "Well there just isn't any money in the budget for that" and "Oh you are on State Hwy. 348 and we can't install them on a highway". ... but wait a minute; Main Street is also Hwy. 50 and Hwy. 50 in North Delta is also known by 1575 Rd. Just the same as Silver Street is known as Hwy. 348, so that holds no water at all (no pun intended). Also, there wasn't any money in the budget for most of the other things mentioned previously either (but is there ever?). This town needs to take care of existing homes that the residents have paid taxes on for many years instead of taking on new projects that only cater to a minority of its citizens!
The last "big project" of sidewalk construction was over five years ago and there hasn't been one single piece laid since on existing construction inside the city. Why are we being neglected by our elected city officials? Countless new administrations have come and gone for so long that it is useless to threaten electing someone else. I suppose it is high time legal counsel is retained and a class action lawsuit be initiated to get any results. Is it any wonder that real estate valuations on the west side of town will never be comparable to the east side? Maybe with a judgment in the plaintiffs favor, we can all afford to move into a nice neighborhood on the "good" side of town...or at least somewhere that has a sidewalk.
Shirley Vollmert
Delta