May 6, 1997
Are Hex Blocks
On the Way Out?By Gemma O'Donnell
and Timothy J. BakerWHOLE BLOCKS OF sidewalk disappearing in the neighborhood? Concrete slabs appearing where once there were historic hexagon blocks?
It's all in a day's work for Tony Leno, capital projects coordinator for the City of St. Petersburg Engineering and Storm Water Department. For short, just call him the sidewalk king.
Here's what's happening.
It costs the city an average of $2.66 per square foot to put in new concrete sidewalks, and an average of $4.89 to repair hexagon block sidewalks.
For years, the city's policy was to pay out of its own budget $1.33 per square foot for any sidewalk repairs. The remainder would be billed to individual property owners, based on the area of repaired sidewalk abutting their property.
For property owners who had ordinary concrete sidewalks, the result was an even split with the city: $1.33 per square foot would be covered by the city, the other $1.33 would be paid for by the individual.
For those with hex block sidewalks, though, a choice had to be made. One choice was to have the hex blocks replaced with concrete, at the same $1.33 split with the city. The second choice was to maintain the hex blocks. This would cost the individual $3.56 per square foot (the actual cost of $4.89 minus the city's $1.33).
THIS YEAR, MAYOR David J. Fischer and the City Council decided to use some of the money from the Penny for Pinellas sales tax to give property owners a break. Under this policy, the city will pay $2.66 per square foot for sidewalk repairs, instead of the $1.33.
The result?
There will be no charge to property owners who have concrete walks repaired, since the city's contribution covers the actual cost.
Again, though, those with hex blocks must make a choice. They can have the hex blocks replaced with concrete at no cost to themselves. Or, they can choose to have the hex block walks repaired at a cost of $2.23 per square foot (the actual cost of $4.89 minus the city's $2.66).Serious consideration was given to the impact the new policy would have on those who had earlier decided to have sidewalk repairs done at considerable cost to themselves, and for which many are still paying.
It was readily acknowledged that implementing the new policy might cause some resentment; however, the benefits of the new policy to the city as a whole carried more weight.
And the work has finally gotten under way BIG TIME. In the next two or three years, Leno expects to have worked through the backlog of requests by residents, as well as the many reports of broken sidewalks from code inspectors and other city employees. In North Shore alone, 50 repair projects are being aggressively pursued.
WITH THE PRESENT POLICY, two new programs speed up the process. First, the Hazardous Program allows the city to repair small areas rather than doing the entire length of paving abutting a property. Second, the Expansion Program provides for sidewalks to be constructed in areas where previously there were none. Oak and Bay Streets could profit from this.
Frugality, however, may win out over aesthetics. (Or is it that we've just grown tired of stubbing our collective toes?) In any case, hex blocks might end up being an oddity rather than the rule in our otherwise historic neighborhood.
But remember, you do have a choice! When repairs are made, you can have either hex blocks or concrete slab! For more information, call 893-7850 and ask for Tony Leno, the sidewalk king.