The Albert Lea City Council is considering a change in the city’s sidewalk assessment policy.

During the Thursday preagenda workshop, councilors discussed the roles of sidewalks and whether it should be the responsibility of adjacent homeowners or the city to pay for them.

The discussion comes as city leaders are promoting movement throughout the city as part of the AARP/Blue Zones Vitality Project. This summer, some homeowners adjacent to where sidewalks were replaced have also voiced opinions against paying for the sidewalks.

Albert Lea City Engineer Steven Jahnke said with these construction projects coming to a close, the council will soon need to make some decisions about how it wants to allocate the assessments.

The current assessment policy states sidewalk construction willbe assessed 100 percent to adjacent property owners, as sidewalks are a direct benefit to them.

When this is done and the sidewalk later needs repairs, the city pays 100 percent of the repairs if it is less than 25 years old. If it’s between 25 and 50 years old, the city pays 50 percent and 50 percent is assessed, and if the sidewalk is 50 years or older, 100 percent of the cost is assessed.

Sidewalks and trails in new developments are 100 percent assessable to the development.

Jahnke presented the councilors with a chart that showed how costs were divided up in the current policy, versus what it would look like if 50 percent of the cost was assessed and then if zero percent was assessed.

The state aid overlay project on Martin Road, Lakeview Boulevard and Fountain Street, for example, included about $28,000 in assessed funds and $42,000 in city funds under the current system. If this were changed to a 50/50 relationship, about $14,000 would be assessed and about $56,000 would be city costs.

Jahnke said he did not suggest going to a policy where nothing is assessed because it takes away the ownership from the homeowner where the sidewalk runs next to.

Albert Lea City Manager Victoria Simonsen said the council basically has three options: Stay with the current policy where 100 percent of costs are assessed, deal with each improvement project separately or adopt a policy change.

Councilor Larry Baker said he thinks if the council opted to handle each project separately, it would open up the council to sharp criticism.

“I personally think we should stay away from that one,” Baker said.

Councilor Larry Anderson questioned where the city would come up with the funding for the city’s portion if the policy was changed.

After further discussion, Councilor Vern Rasmussen expressed his opinion that sidewalks should not be assessed at all. He said he thinks there needs to be a sidewalk fund.

Anderson said back in the late 1970s and early 1980s he used to not see the true value of a sidewalk, but now that he has grandchildren, he’s learned the value of a sidewalk in a residential area.

“If you give them the option of a sidewalk, at least you know you gave them the option of using it,” he said.

Councilor Reid Olson said he would like to see the policy switched to a 50/50 ratio, adding he wouldn’t be opposed to the city paying 100 percent on major trails.

Councilor Minnow Brooks said he does not think the city should put higher importance of one person’s sidewalk versus another. If the policy is changed, it should be the same across the board.

The councilors also discussed how repairs should be handled.

They indicated they would move forward with voting on the assessments for this summer’s projects in the way they think the policy should go, and then the policy will be adopted shortly after.