With work winding down on the Humes Road bridge replacement, one Weston couple is hoping the city will help them with a very similar problem on Spring Street.
Lyle and Paula Buckler spoke to the Weston board of aldermen on Monday, June 14 about the low water crossing that provides the only access to their property at the far eastern end of Spring Street. Unlike Humes Road, which sparked months worth of discussions on whether or not the bridge was on private or city property, public works officials said the crossing to the Buckler home is definitely on city property.
Paula Buckler said the narrow, steep road and crossing at the bottom of the ravine have not been maintained in decades.
“It’s getting more narrow and hazardous,” she said, asking aldermen to drive the road to see the conditions. The family is unable to get deliveries from retailers as they refuse to attempt to take large trucks through the small pass.
Alderman Mark Seymour had driven through recently and called it a “mess.” His pickup truck took up the one-lane gravel road and he agreed something needed to be done.
Mayor Kent Stelljes was familiar with the Buckler’s situation due to his previous service on the board and in the mayor’s seat. He, too, agreed that something needed to be done.
Aldermen discussed tapping the engineers who worked on the Humes Road bridge for estimates on costs to address the Spring Street situation. The board approved a request for proposals, stating they would search for a short-term fix to improve accessibility and a long-term reconstruction project.
Also at the meeting, Stelljes put to rest tensions between the Weston Chamber of Commerce and some business owners that bubbled up over the last year or two.
Former alderman Michael Goentzel suggested the formation of a separate economic development committee to remove any doubts about the mission of the chamber, which was read aloud at the meeting.
“I think there were some bumps in the road with some older presidents (of the chamber) but I think we got that straightened out,” Seymour said.
Goentzel said he wasn’t suggesting the chamber did a bad job with tourism tax dollars allocated to them, but that some were concerned with transparency.
Stelljes said when he was re-elected as mayor in April he spoke with people about their concerns, and the chamber didn’t seem to be a large problem. No one was concerned that there was a lack of tourists, or of businesses. Additionally, alderman Rebecca Rooney was to be appointed as chamber liaison later in the meeting, and would work with chamber officials on any concerns.
Chamber president Brent Newkirk was recently re-elected to another term, and said that some complaints over the last year are due to the difficulties of keeping a volunteer-run organization afloat during the pandemic.