by Kay Schten McAdam
Exasperated Editor
Dear Readers:
I don’t even know where to begin.
At various times while observing, in person, the Village Council meeting of Tuesday, June 24, 2025, my head was in my hands, I was rubbing my throbbing temples, trying to stifle a laugh (really? A formal resolution to sell the old Tailgater sign for five bucks when it would’ve been an awesome goodwill photo op to simply present the old sign to the family?), slumping in my seat from disbelief, and saying to myself during Public Comments, “Wow. A resident looked straight at the village president and said emphatically, ‘maybe it’s time for you to step down,’” followed by another comment/question from a resident: “Is there training available to learn how to conduct meetings?”
Marcellus Village Council meetings – the gift that keeps on giving, journalistically speaking, that is.
Placing the theatrics aside, the meeting was the moment of the “great reveal.” The drum roll announcing the thirteen – count ‘em, thirteen – issues surrounding Sidewalkgate, also known as the Downtown Beautification project.
Attorney Dan Hatch presented the report compiled from the findings during an inspection of the project conducted by forensic engineer/architect consultant MaryJean McCarthy-Tapp of Higgins & Associates, Michigan Department of Transportation representatives and members of the Village Council on May 28.
“That [the inspection] was helpful to make sure our consultant is on the same page as the MDOT representatives and that they’re communicating,” Hatch says. “The initial findings from the consultant are what she sees as the perceived design and construction defects with the project.
“The process after this is that we’ll communicate the issues to Wightman, who is the project engineer, and also to Balkema, the contractor, and say these are the issues; they need to be fixed.”
According to Hatch’s report, these are the 13 issues that need to be fixed (pour yourself a cup of coffee or your beverage of choice, ‘cause the list is a long one):
1. There are no isolation joints in the concrete flat between the concrete slab and the adjoining structure work [Isolation joints permit horizontal and vertical movements between abutting faces of the slab and fixed parts of a structure]
Hatch says, “You have the concrete slab and then you have the decorative pavement, then you have the curb. Where the concrete slab meets the adjoining businesses, there has to be an isolation joint not just concrete on the building. That’s an issue because if you look there’s nothing there or they just put concrete right up against the building. This is an issue for expansion and contraction.”
2. Downspouts – there are various downspouts that are basically gutters from the buildings. They are not connected to the below grade piping. The below grade piping where the rainwater will run off are large white PVC pipes. The downspouts are not connected to those.
3. Damaged concrete in various areas throughout the block. It is unknown if the damaged areas existed before Balkema’s work and never got fixed or were damaged because of insufficient workmanship.
4. Parking spaces – There are various parking spaces in front of fire hydrants and striping. Parking spaces must be at least 15 feet from a fire hydrant.
5. Noncompliant flare sides – These are the curbed ramps that come down from the sidewalk and eventually go into the road. They do not meet grading/ADA requirement.
6. Noncompliant slopes in addition to the curbs themselves and the flare sides. The actual slopes going down into the road do not meet ADA requirements.
7. Decreased accessibility to buildings. Hatch says, “This is what I call the two-step or the concrete riser where there are two steps into a lot of the businesses now. That is an issue for two reasons: 1) It was not in the original design plans, so someone other than the Village made that call in the field which is a significant design change either by Balkema or Wightman or one of the Balkema subcontractors. 2) Whatever the accessibility was prior to the project, you can’t have decreased accessibility after the project. That’s an ADA requirement. So, if you have one step, you now can’t have two steps because that’s a decrease in accessibility. It’s a design issue and it’s also an ADA issue.”
8. Noncompliant riser heights – The steps that were installed are not uniform in certain measurements on a parallel level. The two-step is not correct in itself, but the height of the steps that were installed is outside the deviation requirement in various spots.
9. Missing handrails – Hatch says, “That’s an interesting one because we could install handrails right now but whatever the fix is, we don’t want to install handrails and incur that expense and then have to rip them out and then install new handrails. But the handrails need to be installed eventually whenever the fixes are made.”
10. The benches are too close to the streets. “I pulled my car up and the car hit the side of the bench,” Hatch says, “so I even understood that one before our consultant came out. There’s a required measurement from the bench to the actual street, so your legs don’t hang over and get severed off by the cars driving by.”
11. The slope of the sidewalks – in various areas, it exceeds the grade requirements
12. Decorative concrete is stained black in various areas
13. Incomplete work/Punch list work – There is some original scope work that has not been attempted or started and then there’s punch list work that needs to be completed.
The next step for Hatch is to send a formal Notice of Defect to Wightman and Balkema notifying them that “you’re in default of your contracts because these are issues that need to be corrected, and we demand a cure.”
Hatch says that Wightman and Balkema must be given a reasonable amount of time to correct the issues; however, work on the project should continue because not all portions of the project have been completed. In Hatch’s words to Wightman and Balkema, “You need to keep the ball rolling.”
Timeline for repairs or are we talking replacement?
Who knows. The thirteen issues are not quick and easy fixes.
Perhaps in the meantime, we could work on issue #14. Unsure of what it is? Go back and re-read paragraph #2.
The Marcellus Village Council meets the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:00pm in Village Hall, 177 E. Main. Come join the fun, won’t you?
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The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it. – Arnold H. Glasow, American author and humorist
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