Following the Board of Works and Public Safety’s Tuesday morning decision to limit parking on James Street, a further study will be done to locate similar narrow passageways in the city.
A Shelbyville Centrals School bus cannot travel down James Street (photo) when cars are parked on both sides of the road. That prompted a conversation with neighbors to rectify the problem.
The Board of Works, which consists of Mayor Tom DeBaun, David Finkel and Bob Williams, visited with residents on James Street which narrows as it goes east. That has made it difficult for a SCS special needs bus to pass through once dropping off a student.
A bigger concern arose with getting fire trucks or other emergency services vehicles down James Street, located one block north of the Shelby County Fairgrounds.
At Tuesday morning’s first meeting of the Board of Works for 2022, a decision was made to eliminate parking on the north side of James Street.
“It’s a nice street. The conditions of the homes are very nice,” said Finkel, who has visited the area on several occasions.
There is an alley that runs behind the homes on the north side of James Street, according to DeBaun, which allows access to the homes. That is not true of the south side of the street.
“The north side just makes the most sense to eliminate the parking,” said Finkel.
Finkel asked Fire Chief Tony Logan, who regularly attends the Board of Works meetings, to survey other city streets for potential problems for emergency services vehicles.
Code enforcement officer Troy Merrick appeared before the Board of Works to ask for “orders to appear” for the owners of 815 Morris Avenue, 827 Meridian St., 1303 Beverly St., 1305 Beverly St., and 1313 Beverly St.
All but one of the properties are rental properties and are in need of attention.
The Board of Works also approved a Memorandum of Understanding for funding for the Youth Assistance Program (YAP).
The memorandum was already approved by the Shelby County Commissioners, the Shelby County Council, and, on Monday, the city’s Common Council.
The city’s portion of the funding is not to exceed $65,000.
The three-member Board of Works and Public Safety meets every Tuesday morning at 8:30 a.m. at City Hall, 44 W. Washington St.
