A pair of public hearings on proposed local laws more than doubled the duration of the latest Silver Creek Village Board meeting because of the lengthy dialogue between the Village Board and members of the Planning Board.

The first public hearing regarding Local Law 1 of 2022 amending Chapter 155 — Rental Property Section — of the Village of Silver Creek Code began the meeting. Michael Dee explained the reasoning behind regulating short-term rental properties and the goals of the Planning Board in doing so.

“Why are we doing this? … We’re trying to put accountability more on to the owner of the property to minimize the likelihood that you will get bad behavior,” said Dee.

The next public hearing regarding Local Law 2 of 2022 amending Chapter 180 – Streets and Sidewalks Section – of the Village of Silver Creek Code featured much more discussion.

OBSERVER Photos by Braden Carmen Deanna Borrello shared her concern with the Village Board on the issue of low-income residents being unable to pay to repair the sidewalks on their properties.

Jim Castiglia of the Planning Board presented the proposed amended law. “The Planning Board has discussed the conditions of sidewalks in our village. For many years, they have been neglected and not repaired,” said Castiglia. “We have formed a committee to identify properties that have these sidewalks that are very much in disrepair to try to come up with a plan.”

Castiglia said the Planning Board is not concerning itself with areas that have never had a sidewalk. The proposed law is only in relation to existing sidewalks in disrepair.

“We have dealt with the sidewalk problem for 40 years, if not more,” said Deanna Borrello. “This is a matter of taking pride in our village and seeing that the job gets done. … We’re trying to move ahead to the future for the looks of our community.”

A major point that was raised through the lengthy discussion is how to pay for improvements of the sidewalks. Currently, homeowners are expected to pay to repair the sidewalks on their property and the village offers a reimbursement of about 25% of the cost. The Planning Board suggested raising that reimbursement to closer to 50% of the cost.

Borrello posed the question of what to do in the instance of a resident who cannot afford to repair the sidewalk on their property. “I think the village needs to be ready to address that problem – to see if they can’t set up some kind of a program for these low-income people,” said Borrello.

Dee suggested the village pay the entire cost outright and to prioritize areas that are public safety concerns. Dee shared that in another area where he used to live, their local government did not have a cost sharing agreement and the sidewalks were covered entirely by the municipality.

“You might think you’re getting an accounting efficiency saying you’ll make the people pay half and you’ll pay half, by the time you get done coordinating with all the contractors to do it one at a time, you’ve increased the administrative cost,” said Dee. “You might not actually have to increase your budget for repairing sidewalks because you’ll get some efficiency back. … Since the village is taking a property right in taking the sidewalk, maybe the village should take the responsibility to make it easy.”

At the end of the lengthy discussion, however, no official action was taken. Both proposed laws were tabled so that the village attorney, Peter Clark, can look over the laws as presented.

“I appreciate everybody’s input,” said Silver Creek Mayor Jeff Hornburg. “I’m not against what you’re saying, but after sitting here for five years, I can tell you there’s going to be a fly in this ointment. I don’t know where it is, but there’s a fly coming and we’ll swat it when we get to it.”

Village Board Members Stephen Romanik and Sandra Lindstrom joined Hornburg in giving thanks to the Planning Board for their efforts.

Hornburg said that both proposals are available at the Village Clerk’s office if members of the public would like to review the laws.