I live on a street 1 block long, off the beaten path, no schools close by. Twenty years ago, when I built my home, I was forced to put in sidewalk. It's on my side of the street only. I'm STILL trying to figure this one out.

Put a sidewalk not "but a sidewalk" Ok saw that too

George Brunner "Now theres a guy I could vote for"
How long are you going to let these guys but a sidewalk down the backside of your property and tell you that’s its raining? With GM gone, now is not the time to spend the people’s hard earned money on silly sidewalk scams. Oh but we get matching funds. Ha, It is still $150 a foot to the property owner and where do you think Federal money comes from anyway, “The tooth fairy? “

Strange comments here. Maybe that lady would get trick-or-treaters if there were actually sidewalks? This is a tough cost vs. benefit debate quite honestly.

Extremely disappointing. Hopefully the next city council will stop the insanity and REQUIRE every street in the city to have sidewalks. Janesville, the city of sidewalks that go nowhere.

Also - what? - sex in the yards on Waveland Road? Seems pretty far fetched! Drug deals? Sure. Those are everywhere. But what is the connection of either one to sidewalks? I don't get it.

I don't understand the argument of the pro-sidewalk people. I don't hear, "sidewalks are great - I love mine - everyone should have them - they are beneficial." All I hear is, "I had to pay for mine, you should have to pay for yours." That isn't an argument for sidewalks, it's just an argument to share the burden and somehow make it "fair". How does that benefit anyone?

what i dont understand is they ve already taken alot of property from these home owners to widen the road and put in a bike lane, now they want sidewalks too. there is no more on street parking on rotamer road being as they placed the bike lane on the outside of the street. how much property are they going to take away from these home owners . in some case s the road was widen illegally when they never got harmony townships permission to do so. so then they annex they house s in , charge them for the sewer and gutters on a street they should of never widened in the first place and now they want them to pay for sidewalks

1924grant you some houses didnt get a choice how close they are to the street the city widen some streets and made bike paths , what are they suppose to do pick up the house s and move them.

No whining here. If your house is that close to the street already, it's probably depreciating the value of the rest of the city and should e razed. We should have sidewalks everywhere.

JustAskMe---Brunner was being sarcastic when he said that, asking rhetorically, "If we don't all have to have them, why don't I just take mine out?" It was not offered as a real scenario.

grant, you want a little cheese with that whine?
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The difference between a furnace in January and sidewalks in my yard is this - the furnace is a necessity and will get used! Come back when you have a better argument. Hopefully I'll have that cheese all sliced up and ready to go for you.

Take out existing sidewalks? What? Hopefully the NEXT City Council will think more clearly.

One thing I observe in the council vote may be meaningfull but may mean nothing. The two votes for more sidewalks at this time were Mr Brunner and Mr Steeber. These gentlemen and lifetime government employees or retirees who do not face the financial risk of working families in the private sector. A sad part of every discussion is the folks who take the view "I have sidewalks so you should have to spend the money to get them" (to share my pain?). The council has set groups of citizens up against each other. All of this is another argument for smaller government. The schools spend millions for improvements to include easy drive by drop off zones for parents. Then they want to spend more money on a campaign to find out why kids don't walk or ride their bikes to school.

"Nix"-to veto; refuse to agree to; prohibit.

sorry, "improvments"

More incumbant bs. It's just one of the many costs of owning a home. The people that are crying about the cost, what will you do if your furnace went out in the middle of january? If you cant afford the imptovement to make our city a better place to live, than maybe you should sell and start renting.

Where is Hank when his input is needed? lol I truly hope all is well with him/her.

I watched the hypocrites on the council state they were “pro-sidewalk” and yet they voted against them. I can’t believe I actually agree with both Steeber AND Brunner but I do. Brunner pointed out that a covenant wasn't a legally binding contract and yet that was taken into consideration.
3 years ago, I had to put in sidewalks and it wasn’t economically a good time for me but guess what, I didn’t receive a reprieve. I had to find a way to pay for it and I did. I understand some sections don’t seem to make sense but that’s not the point. The city has a policy that says everyone will have them. That is the only fair policy that treats all homeowners equally. The policy also takes the aesthetics and safety considerations out of the debate. When council members have to pick and choose which sections make sense and which don’t, there going to make mistakes and be open to a lot of criticism of some residents . If the city has a plan in place, then either stick with it or scrap the whole plan or start over. Maybe the people who were in favor of the sidewalks didn’t show up to the meeting because they trusted the council members to follow the city policy?

This is disappointing. If there are any segments that need filling in, it should be the ones on the Safe Routes to School plan priority list. Janesville is just getting started encouraging alternative transportation for students. Ultimately, each time this plan gets pushed back, the harder it will be to finally complete it.