Barbara Lee was dumbfounded.
She stood on the grassy devil strip along North Forge Street in Akron staring down where there once was a sandstone sidewalk.
Now, there’s just sand, dirt, weeds and some broken sidewalk pieces stretching for more than 100 yards.
“Nobody can believe this story,” said Lee, a 66-year-old retired homeowner who lives around the corner on North Adams Street.
More than 1,100 square feet of public sidewalk was removed — Lee and others allege stolen — in March by a Cleveland contractor who then sold the city-owned slabs for $5 a square foot.
Five months later, no one has been charged and the sidewalk, which is on a hill, hasn’t been replaced, frustrating those who see it or have to walk there every day.
“It’s one excuse after another,” Lee said with aggravation.
Goodbye, sidewalk
The story begins on a cool Saturday in March when Lee noticed the contractor digging up the sidewalk.
She called the police.
Authorities responded and found that Amish Oldwood of Cleveland had a permit from the city for the work.
The firm had paid a $176 fee to do the work.
The contractor had pulled the permit a month earlier, with city officials believing that the company had the permission of the property owners.
The sidewalk runs past Russell Products, an industrial coating company, and the company’s name and address are provided on the permit.
While sidewalks are owned by the city, they are maintained by property owners. If a property owner wants a new sidewalk, he or she can apply for a permit and have the work done, with the city coming out later to inspect the job.
The problem is that Russell Products was unaware of the permit and hadn’t granted its permission to Amish Oldwood to remove the sidewalk.
Company maintenance manager Chris Higgins filed a police report March 21, claiming that the sidewalk was stolen.
There is now an active police investigation and the city is trying to get to the bottom of what happened, said Chris Ludle, the city’s deputy service director.
The city doesn’t ask to see a work contract between a contractor and a property owner.
“We never think anyone is going to get a permit to steal,” Ludle said. “This is definitely a unique problem. It’s never happened before.”
Misunderstanding
Guy Sancic of Amish Oldwood, a salvage company that reclaims items, said it’s just a big misunderstanding and the issue is being overblown.
He said he wanted to sell the sandstone sidewalk slabs and have them replaced with a concrete sidewalk.
“I didn’t know the proper way to go about it,” he said in a telephone interview. “I thought you could pull a permit on a city sidewalk.”
Told that the property owners there think he stole the sidewalk, he responded: “They can claim whatever they want. Why would I put my name down on the permit?
“Everybody thinks I purposely went out and took something,” he added. “I’m not that smart. The bottom line is the sidewalk is getting poured.”
Sancic subcontracted the sidewalk replacement job to Vincent Labriola Construction of Norton.
Vince Labriola said his company has been so busy with other work that he hasn’t had time to get to the North Forge sidewalk. He said he hopes to start the work Saturday.
Meanwhile, Sancic apologized for causing the headache.
“I thought I was doing everything right,” Sancic said. “I got nothing to hide.”
Who pays?
In the meantime, Higgins and Lee worry about the safety of anyone walking there.
What if someone falls? What if someone tries to sue the property owners?
“That’s all we want is the sidewalk put in,” Lee said.
Lee estimates that she’s made about 50 phone calls to police and other officials pestering them about the issue.
City Councilman Zack Milkovich was the only one who bothered to visit and walk the site with her, and he urged her to contact the Beacon Journal, she said.
Lee wouldn’t mind seeing the contractor charged with theft.
“I still feel the man should be prosecuted,” Lee said. “Sorry. I do.”
“There’s no doubt he should have to pay the consequences,” Higgins added.
He said the company may pursue charges through the city prosecutor’s office.
Higgins and Lee also question whether the city and taxpayers will somehow have to foot the bill for the new sidewalk.
“I don’t feel the taxpayers should have to pay one penny for this sidewalk,” Lee said. “Nothing.”
Ludle insisted that the property owners and taxpayers won’t have to pay for a new sidewalk, even if the city is forced to replace it.
If it comes to that, the city would go after the contractor for the cost, he said.
Rick Armon can be reached at 330-996-3569 or rarmon@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter at @armonrickABJ.