John Trendell, of Brown Road, asked Oregon City Council at a recent meeting if there were any plans to repair “one of the worst streets in Oregon.”
 
“It’s an embarrassment to the city,” Trendall said of Dustin Road.
 
“I ask that something be done with that, and not just a Band-Aid,” he added, “because that concrete is completely destroyed. It’s something that council should look at.”
 
He also inquired about installing new sidewalks on Navarre Avenue, which he said are also in bad shape.
 
“I’m a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church at Coy and Navarre. As it is now, there’s a beaten path on our frontage where people have walked. Also motorized wheelchairs end up on Navarre Avenue because there’s no sidewalks to Wal-Mart,” said Trendall. “Wal-Mart is one of our newest businesses in town and I’m sure they would appreciate the fact that they’d have a decent sidewalk for the people to go to their store. We want sidewalks at St. Paul’s Church, and we would like to see some kind of a plan put in place by council and the city to make it so that the Navarre Avenue gateway is truly a pedestrian-friendly area to walk in.”

Mayor Mike Seferian said the city is aware of the poor condition of Dustin Road, but the city has been financially strapped due to the recession.
 
“We’ve been a little tight in funds the last couple of years. We certainly are going to work that into the equation, as soon as that is financially possible,” said Seferian.
 
Public Service Director Paul Roman said Dustin and Isaac Street are among the worst roads in the city.
 
Otter Creek Road, he added, had been the worst until the city was able to obtain a grant to restore it.
 
“We were lucky to get a grant for Otter Creek, which involved rubberizing the concrete and putting asphalt over the top,” said Roman. “I’m planning the same type of project for both Dustin and Isaac.”
 
The city was unable to obtain a federal Transportation Improvement Project (TIP) grant, for which it had applied, said Roman. It would cost about $2 million to restore Dustin and Isaac, he added.
 
Roman plans to apply this fall for a grant from the Ohio Public Works Commission (OPWC) to fund the project.
 
“We did allocate money in the budget to do the design, and we’re doing that in-house with the engineers we have. We want to be in a position where we are very comfortable with the design, and we’ll submit that to the OPWC this fall. So it really is number one on our list. To be competitive, we may have to ask for more loan dollars, a zero interest loan, because when it comes to OPWC, you have to show that your project is regional. Sometimes, it’s very difficult with a residential street. But if we ask for more zero interest loans, then we can be more successful in the scoring of the funding,” said Roman.
 
“As for the sidewalks on Navarre Avenue, the church is very open to sidewalks going in, and looking at perhaps a bridge improvement on the Coy side,” said Roman. “But I think one thing council should be aware of, to put in sidewalks on Navarre, there are drainage improvements that would have to take place. But all the sanitary and other infrastructure is in place. I agree that would be an ideal location to order in that sidewalk. When I say order in, that is an act of council. It would be ordered in and there would be a certain time frame for the property owners to do it themselves. We would produce a drawing that they would use to get their quotes. But if they chose not to do it, then it would be assessed, and put on their taxes. So it would be something to think about. We did start laying out the design a couple of years ago, and really, there was kind of a debate about ordering the sidewalk in. With our past sidewalk program, we’ve really gone to the property owners that already have a sidewalk out front. If it’s deficient, we’ve developed a program in order to fix those sidewalks, and it’s worked out pretty well. When we’re talking brand new sidewalks, even in residential areas, a frontage of 100 feet is probably close to $2,000-$3,000 per property. So for some of these commercial properties, it will be a hefty cost. And that is something to think about when ordering in anything.”
 
Councilman James Seaman said he thought that assessments could be placed on the tax duplicate and paid over time.
 
“We have to keep in mind that can be stretched out over a relatively lengthier period of time, maybe up to 20 years, so it does not hit them real bad. It is a doable thing. I think that would help our community be more connected. It could benefit all commercial enterprises along Navarre Avenue,” said Seaman.
 
“When you do these assessment projects, the city is still fronting the money,” said Roman. “It’s something you need to budget. So you do need an idea, a design in place, and a very good idea on cost. But normally, on our existing sidewalk program, it’s usually a two year assessment. We have carried out some to five years. Twenty years would probably be very long. Usually, OPWC zero interest loans are based on a 10 year period.”
 

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