Blockin’ out the scenery
Breakin’ my mind
(Five Man Electrical Band – 1970)
Orange barricades and “Sidewalk Closed” signs have been a fixture along Main Street between Burney and Centre since last summer leading to the current “Sidewalkgate” situation.
– News Photo
Yes, and how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
(Blowin’ In The Wind by Bob Dylan – 1962)
[Editor’s Note: At the time the April 17 edition of The News went to print, the Marcellus Village Council called a special meeting, for Tuesday, April 15, to discuss the sidewalk situation.]
Since last summer, the sidewalks between Centre and Burney streets in the Village of Marcellus have been accessorized with orange barricades, orange and white cones, and Sidewalk Closed signs. What was supposed to be a revitalization of the downtown streetscape, thanks to a $225,170 Revitalization and Placemaking (RAP) grant, has turned into a contentious tug-of-war for an equitable solution to Sidewalkgate between the Village Council and many Main Street business owners. Yes, the situation has descended to deep enough depths that it warrants a “gate.”
Below is the full text of a statement read by Erica Watts at the April 8, 2025, Village Council meeting. It can also be seen/heard on YouTube: https://tinyurl.com/SidewalkGate. Watts is co-owner of Electric Moon, 101 E. Main, and former member of the Marcellus Downtown Development Authority. -KSM
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4/9/2025
Dear Editor,
I am a Village of Marcellus resident, the co-owner of Electric Moon located on Main Street and have been actively involved in volunteering and community events since moving here. As you and your readers may or may not know, there has been an ongoing issue with the Downtown Beautification project since demolition and restoration started. My husband, who is now a Village Trustee, has been vocal in requesting our Village officials be transparent and take some accountability for their mistakes. I requested the official documents pertaining to the Beautification Project and as a result, I presented the following statement in person at the April 8, 2025, Village Council meeting. I’d like to share this with you and my fellow citizens of Marcellus. I am just a regular person who thinks we can all do our part to change the world for the better. I urge each of you to exercise your rights to have your voice heard by your local government.
Thank you,
Erica Watts
As you know, I submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for documents pertaining to the Downtown Beautification Project on March 21st of this year. I’d like to share this statement with you as a result.
PROWAG also known as Public Right of Way Accessibility Guidelines defines a sidewalk as: The portion of a highway between the curbline and the lateral line of the roadway and the adjacent property line. Or on an easement of private property that is paved or improved and intended for use by pedestrians.
Please keep the latter definition in mind as it pertains to the Downtown project.
When the Village applied for the RAP (Revitalization & Placemaking)Grant in May of 2022, we requested $225,170. 50% of the total estimated cost. The remaining 50% was to come from the Village of Marcellus General Fund, the Village of Marcellus Municipal Street Fund and $40,000 committed by the DDA. These 50% match funds are primarily sourced through taxpayer dollars.
In order to have the highest likelihood of receiving the Grand award, the application had to address a number of needs overall, but most importantly the Village must meet the needs of everyone. The grant writer focused on Accessibility, Inclusivity and Business Support a number of times.
I’d like to share some excerpts:
“Improving Pedestrian Safety and Accessibility-The sidewalk replacements will have more than one positive long term impact. Addressing accessibility for those with disabilities, risks to safety as noted in a 2021 incident. Safe, accessible sidewalks encourage inclusivity & reduce the chances for injury”
Another excerpt:
“The Village is committed to supporting business owners growth”
“ The design is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities. All sidewalks will be available to all users with no segregated entrances.”
It has been almost a year of business owners attending every Village council meeting to get a 3-minute public comment, to voice our concerns. People in wheelchairs can’t access our businesses, people with walkers have extreme difficulty accessing our businesses, people with poor eyesight and elderly populations have difficulty navigating the two steps that are not equal in height or depth. We have been met with hostility, disdain and defensiveness. Certainly not “support in our growth.” This is not an opinion of how we feel, but facts as shown in the videos of the public meetings, in the handwritten notes, and emails supplied in the FOIA material.
I’d like to talk a little about the project itself:
Per the blueprints, there was no additional step to the entrances of businesses on the North side of the East main block. The prints show there was no elevated wheelchair ramp at the Market. The blueprint actually shows continuous, equal elevation up to the face of our buildings for the entire block. The village hired Wightman Engineering not only to help us with the grant writing process at a cost of $10,000 but Wightman was hired to survey, scope and create the blueprints. Any professional should have known the grade requirements for MDOT, PROWAG and ADA from day one.
The only plans MDOT ever received are those without an additional step.
On May 20, 2024, Mr. Renaldi from Wightman Engineering sent an email to the Village President, the Village clerk, the Utility clerk and the DPW lead. This emailed stated, “Due to changes in grade to meet MDOT standards, we will need to take nearly all of the sidewalk out to the front of the buildings.”
“When we go to put the walks back, we will need to work with the business owners to restore so everyone is as happy as they can be. Just giving you a heads up that there will be issues”
The first point I’d like to make is that there was not a change in grade requirements from MDOT mid project. The Village chose to do the cheapest route possible to keep the old curbing, so when Balkema excavated the sidewalks, the grade was too steep to meet existing requirements. Again, this should have been accounted for from the beginning.
The second point I’d like to make is that not a single representative from the Village of Marcellus contacted us as owners of Electric Moon nor the owners of Patch and Remington to discuss the issue or possible solutions.
I have poured over the material from the FOIA request which contained 1291 emails with attachments, 525 pages of scanned documents and notes and reviewed three years’ worth of meeting minutes. Nowhere is there documentation of an additional step being added. Not one. No conversation about solutions that could include ramps, no discussion on adding new curbing to elevate the grade, no discussion on the cheapest/fastest option of adding a step. No conversation on adding an elevated ramp to the Market. Nothing! How is that possible?
I believe it was one of these two things; either Mr. Renaldi made this decision on his own and didn’t consult a single person in Marcellus Village Hall or these documents were intentionally left out of my FOIA request, which would be illegal if not disclosed.
Let’s assume that Mr. Renaldi made this decision on his own. Where were our elected officials to advocate for our disabled population, our elderly population and our business owners? As trustee Watts has been saying for a year, there was no oversight and no accountability.
Throughout this past year and our numerous interactions with the Village council, I have heard a lot of blaming business owners’ rhetoric. To quote, “It is not the Village’s job to make businesses ADA accessible.” That statement is correct. However, it is also not the Village’s job to make businesses less accessible. Per the ADA guidelines it is a business owner’s responsibility to provide reasonable accommodations to people with disabilities. Our reasonable accommodation was the use of a portable ramp. The Village took away our reasonable accommodation when the second step was added.
In fact, it was illegal to do so. PROWAG requirement R202.4 states, “An alteration to pedestrian facilities or elements shall NOT decrease the accessibility of an existing pedestrian facility, element, OR an accessible connection to an adjacent building.”
Creating a public sidewalk that is accessible in every way except into certain businesses is like sending our children to school to learn and then not allowing them in a classroom. Folks with accessibility issues are being denied inclusivity, not by me as a business owner, but by the Village administration for adding a step to a public right of way.
To continue with my point on the Village of Marcellus telling us business owners that it is our problem to solve, that is unequivocally false. The Village owns the public right of way or the sidewalk if you will, up until it meets the face of our building. Again, this is not my opinion, this is the law. If you would like to review yourself, you can find an email from Mr. Renaldi to Gilbert at MDOT. Included in this email is a photo, with notes from Mr. Renaldi showing that the landing on the building property is ours, the additional step is public.
A feasible solution was presented to the Village Council last year, the former DDA Chair asked you to consider not spending the $37,000 on railings and use that money to go toward an accessible solution instead. The DDA committed an additional $20,000 in funding to start the project and offered to solicit grant funding to complete it. The Village President and Village Clerk know how that meeting ended. Shortly after, five members of the DDA board resigned, including myself. The lack of cooperation is astounding. The lack of empathy is offensive.
The last thing I’d like to bring to your attention is the meeting with Bandhan from MDOT in February of 2025. The notes do not indicate who was in attendance, but I can say the Village Clerk took handwritten notes. I’d like to share some excerpts from these notes:
“MDOT not aware-should have let MDOT know-Changes made in field without contacting MDOT”
“Is not acceptable”
“Just made it worse-should make it correct. Needs to be corrected.” “They need to do it right-can’t close permit until things are addressed.” “Do survey, go back to design” “Start new it needs to be compliant” “Did not approve-MDOT can’t accept it”
“Needs to be resolved and get back to ADA Compliant” “Can be some design exception but there is NO paper trail.”
We have hit a brick wall at every turn. This is a Council of elected officials and paid employees. You work for me and every taxpayer of this Village. You seem to have forgotten that in this process. If you were truly interested in supporting business owners’ growth, equality and inclusivity for all Marcellus residents, taxpayers, and visitors, this wouldn’t have gone on for so long.
The bottom line is this; You used public funding and taxpayer dollars to make a public right of way less accessible than it was previously, but only for certain businesses.
I am here as a last-ditch effort to give you the opportunity for you to make it right. I have ample proof that the Village of Marcellus has infringed on my personal property rights. The Village of Marcellus has been negligent in holding the engineering firm accountable. And the Village has shown Preferential Treatment to some businesses, at best.
I also have ample proof to show, at worst, the Village of Marcellus displayed outright discrimination, incompetence in performing necessary job duties, violated the Americans with Disabilities Act laws, and mis-used government funding. And when I say the Village of Marcellus, that means every one of you sitting at that table.
Civil or criminal action will not help our Village move forward. That has been our aim all along; to promote growth, prosperity, inclusivity for EVERYONE. If you don’t do the right thing and fix this, I have a lawyer waiting to sign a contract and you will have forced me to pursue that path.
Erica Watts
Marcellus MI
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Note: Many of the Village Council, Planning Commission, and DDA meetings are streamed live on Facebook courtesy of 1620 AM Marcellus Mi, and are still available to view. The Marcellus Village Council meets regularly on the second and fourth Tuesday of each month in Village Hall at 7:00pm.
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