Dear Neighbor,
I want to make you aware of an impending application period for a program that could help you get the sidewalks in front of your home or business repaired.
The Shared Cost Sidewalk Program is an extremely popular program in which residents and business owners share with the City the cost of repairing the City sidewalks in front of their home or business. The Shared Cost project includes the main walk, the courtesy walk (which runs perpendicular from the main sidewalk to the curb), and existing catwalks/landing steps (the small strip of concrete sometimes found adjacent to the curb).
The program offers an outstanding value to property owners. All property owners pay the same square-foot cost for new sidewalk–$4 per square foot–well 
below what a private contractor would charge. Senior citizens and those with disabilities will receive a 50% discount.
The 2014 program opens to new applicants Wednesday, January 1, 2014, on a first-come, first served basis. The program typically reaches capacity very quickly, so I urge you to apply on January 1st, or as soon after January 1st as possible.
Applications will be accepted through the City’s 311 system only. Call 311 or CLICK HERE to apply online. You must give the building owner-occupant’s complete name together with a contact phone number, and the building’s complete address.
Please no
te that if you applied for the program in previous years, you must apply again in 2014.
For a summary of the program, CLICK HERE.
For frequently asked questions, CLICK HERE.
If you fail to make the deadline for the Shared Cost program or you wish to have your sidewalk (or any sidewalk in the 49th Ward) repaired free of charge, you can do so through the 49th Ward Participatory Budgeting Initiative in which the residents of the ward vote directly on how to spend the ward’s capital budget. Please be advised, however, there is no guarantee your sidewalk will be repaired through this process, as it is subject to a community vetting process and vote.
The community residents who serve on the Participatory Budgeting Streets and Sidewalks Committee will review your request and determine whether it merits inclusion on the Participatory Budgeting election ballot. The sidewalk proposal must then receive a sufficient number of votes at the upcoming Participatory Budgeting election to receive funding.
If you would like to have a sidewalk repair considered in the Participatory Budgeting process, please reply to this e-mail and make sure you provide the exact address of the sidewalk that is in need of repair.
Sincerely,
Joe Moore
http://www.facebook.com/joemoore49
http://www.twitter.com/joemoore49
