JAY — Selectpersons voted 3-2 on Monday to reverse an earlier decision to remove a sidewalk on upper Jewell Street, and instead will have it refurbished when paving is done next year.

In June, resident Cindy Bennett requested that about a 600-foot section of sidewalk between Lavoie Street and Belleview Drive be removed. She expressed frustration with maintenance of the sidewalk in the past, including cleaning it up after a winter storm that ends up putting snow back in her driveway, and the affect of the sidewalk plow on her lawn. She told selectpersons then the sidewalk had begun to fall into disrepair and she requested it removed.

The board approved its removal.

Residents Leeann and Richard Dalessandro of Belleview Drive presented selectpersons a petition with 23 signatures of residents in the neighborhood on Monday asking the board to reconsider.

Most of the people who signed it are those who walk, Richard Dalessandro said.

Public Works Director John Johnson said if the board is going to keep the sidewalk, it will need to be fixed.

The estimated cost is more than $16,000, and that does not include any work the town crew would do, including removing it, Johnson said. It would have to be widened and brought up to standard once work is done on the road next year as required by law, he said.

Resident Amanda Leclerc, who lives on Jewell Street, said the sidewalk gives a little bit of a safety buffer for her children.

Leeann Dalessandro said they were asking the board to keep what is there.

Bennett said there was not a sidewalk there when she was growing up. Then someone requested it and one was built.

It is a very busy street, Dalessandro said. Cars go fast on the road.

Painting a line on the road would not work, Corey Leclerc, Amanda Leclerc’s husband, said.

Selectperson Judy Diaz said she walks on Macomber Hill Road and cars go past her 60 miles per hour.

“My children’s safety is important,” Amanda Leclerc said.

Diaz made a motion to continue to remove the sidewalk but it failed 4-1, with her voting for it.

Selectperson Gary McGrane made a motion to refurbish the sidewalk and bring it up to standards when the time is right. The town plans to work on the road in 2021.

That motion passed 3-2 with McGrane and selectpersons Vice Chairman Tim DeMillo and Chairman Terry Bergeron in favor and Diaz and Selectpersons Tom Goding opposed.

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