The City of Tomah’s sidewalk ordinance was before the city’s Public Works and Utilities Commission Wednesday after issues of uniformity concerning the ordinance surfaced during a meeting of the city council earlier this month.

The Commission received information on sidewalk ordinances to review after the Tomah City Council voted to send the ordinance to the Commission on June 9. The Commission received three sidewalk ordinances from other municipalities, including West Salem and Baraboo, for review. Alderperson John Cram, who is a member of the Public Works and Utilities Commission, said that he hopes the Commission can modify the ordinance to make it fair and uniform.

“In my opinion, it is not fair,” Cram said Tuesday of exceptions to the sidewalk ordinance. “We need to figure out criteria for giving exceptions, which I hope will be strict.”

The council sent the ordinance back to the Commission for review and possible modifications after the Committee of the Whole awarded a contract June 8 to add sidewalks to an upcoming street project on Stoughton Avenue. The Public Works and Utilities Commission recommended that sidewalks not be included in the project after four residents from the affected neighborhood objected during a meeting of the commission on May 27.

The city council voted to include sidewalks in the project, despite the recommendation of the Commission, in order to stay in line with the city ordinance that states that residential property will be provided on each side of the street with a concrete sidewalk five feet wide and four inches thick.

The city council awarded two of three possible contracts as recommended, including awarding a contract to Rezin Construction for a low bid of $67,472. The contract will be paid by the Water and Sewer Utility and will cover pavement removal and underground utility work on Stoughton Avenue. A second contract that will cover above-ground street reconstruction and storm sewer for both Stoughton Avenue and Townline Road was awarded to Mathy Construction Company for a low bid of $496,824.95, and will be covered by the city.

The Public Works and Utilities Commission recommended that the city not award the third contract for sidewalk, curb and gutter. Instead, it was recommended that the city approve a change order for $23,549. The council voted to include the sidewalk contract for Farmer Construction at $38,057.

The contracts raised the issue of uniformity with the sidewalk ordinance and its enforcement. When the council voted to send the ordinance to the Commission for review, the motion included that a public hearing be held on any issues or modifications that may come back to the council from the Commission.

“Just not wanting to shovel is not a good enough excuse,” Cram said Tuesday. “We need to have criteria written down for exceptions, like safety issues.”

The sidewalk installments approved for the upcoming street projects n which may begin by the end of this month n will go on as planned. The review of the ordinance, Cram said, will look into the rest of the city.

“We’ll (the Commission) present some things next month,” Cram said. “We need to make this fair, and I think we need to plan for north Tomah. We need to connect that (highway) 12 and 21 area. It can get dangerous out there.”