Medford sidewalks lifting; City says business owners responsible for repairs

Medford, Ore. — Some sidewalks in downtown Medford are falling apart, but there’s a riff between the city and business owners about who’s responsible for the repairs. The Medford Urban Renewal Agency installed the sidewalks 12 years ago with a budget of nearly 1-million dollars, and the city selected the pavers and the trees.

Businesses have been told they are responsible for the maintenance of the sidewalks, but property managers we spoke with say the sidewalks don’t need to be maintained, they need to be replaced entirely.

“This sidewalks only 12 years old, that’s a third of the life of a good sidewalk at best,” Mike Ziemer  says, “anywhere else you look around the city that you see poured concrete sidewalks, they’re fine.”

“The city needs to step up and fix this problem,” Ziemer adds.

Property owners have been given 9 months to fix the problem but have been asked to sign agreements saying the city is not liable for defective sidewalks. Ziemer says they have yet to sign those.

The city has agreed to look into whether or not this is a design or installation flaw, but there’s no word on when the council will discuss this issue next.

 

© 2024 KOBI-TV NBC5. All rights reserved unless otherwise stated.

Skip to content