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gutter. Hamilton echoed the same thoughts in that he has a couple of hundred feet of property in the flood plain, but if he wants a better street, "I'll have to bite the bullet for curb and gutter," he said.
• Councilman Eddy Opp said that he has "never, ever had drainage issues" and that the streets around his lot have been good and that he will never get the cost of curb and gutter back out of his lot so why does he need it?
• After the roll call vote of 5-1 with Opp voting no, a couple of residents raised further concerns. Rod Kluess got out his letter and demanded that the council vote on the projects by blocks and not the whole project. He stated that the letter said if an area has a majority not in favor of it, they could opt out. City Finance Officer Anita Lowary read that part of the letter to the council and went on to read that the council would have the final say if an area were beneficial to a project.
• Olson said that the original project has grown much larger and in order to do a better job the base and fabric should be put under the curb and gutter.
• Don Shanholt said he had sent his letter to his attorney and the state's attorney and said if he is going to spend $10,000 on curb and gutter, he will spend that amount to fight it. It said that it was not fair having curb and gutter forced on him.
• Olson informed the public that if they so desired, they could refer the decision to a vote of the people. Lowary said that they would have to get 5 percent of the voters in the last gubernatorial election to sign a petition, which would be about 35 eligible voters. Then it would be referred to a vote of the people. It was pointed out that all citizens of Groton would vote on it, not just those in the project area.
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• Then after the curb and gutter hearing, the council discussed the Safe Route to School sidewalk project. Superintendent Laura Schuster, Elementary Principal Dan Dalchow and resident Robert Snyder were on hand for this part of the meeting.
• Schuster said the main focus is for the sidewalks to radiate away from the schools. "It comes down to safety of the students and for the pedestrians," she said. Snyder said he was in favor of the project as long as it does not affect his garage. The new proposal would put sidewalk on the south side of Ninth Avenue from First Street to Main Street. Ninth Avenue does not have any city boulevard so in exchange for the property owners giving the city five feet of property for the sidewalk along the curb, they would get the sidewalk at no cost.
• Schuster also complimented the council in making the tough decisions, even when they are not popular. "What the city did to the streets by the school is greatly appreciated," she said.

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