By Andrew Gorosko

The Borough Historic District Commission has approved a certificate of appropriateness for a sidewalk construction project in the borough, allowing the stalled project to resume work.

Commission members July 11 unanimously approved granting a certificate of appropriateness to the borough and the town for the installation of sidewalk in the borough at 3 Church Hill Road, 5-7 Church Hill Road, 1 Glover Avenue, 4 Main Street, and 6 Main Street. The work is known as the “inner loop” sidewalk project.

The project to install 3,200 linear feet of sidewalk in the borough stalled in June after it was learned that the borough and town had not received a required certificate of appropriateness from the Borough Historic District Commission for work lying within the historic district. So far, 2,600 feet of sidewalk has been constructed. The project involves the replacement of existing sidewalks with better sidewalks and also the construction of new sidewalks where none had existed.

Historic district regulations require that a certificate of appropriateness must be obtained before any visible changes or improvements are made to properties within the district, which are visible from a public place. In such an application, commission members decide whether the proposed changes are “appropriate” in the context of the historic nature of the district.

Voting in favor of granting the certificate were commission chairman Stephanie Gaston and members Betsy Kenyon, John Shannon and Renee McManus.

Initially, conventional poured concrete was to have been used for all sidewalks in the project. Later, after learning that sections of the project are in the historic district, the borough planned to use a “stamped concrete” material which simulates monochromatc flagstone.

At the July 11 commission meeting, Burgess Jay Maher, who heads the sidewalk project for the Borough Board of Burgesses, told commission members that the project would instead employ a textured concrete product with the trade name Bomanite, which better simulates flagstone than typical stamped concrete. The Bomanite material to be used is similar to that which is in place at the Edmond Town Hall Plaza at 45 Main Street, and the on the sidewalk in front of Newtown Savings Bank at 39 Main Street.

The material simulates the appearance of three different blue-gray shades of flagstone. The substance is “very aesthetically pleasing,” Mr Maher said. The material does not pose tripping hazards and is sealed to prevent water from entering, he said.

The Bomanite may be grouted to better simulate the flagstone effect, but grouting adds installation and maintenance costs.

The sidewalk section on Church Hill Road will be grouted, Mr Maher said. Grouting increases the cost of the work by about 20 percent, he said.

Mr Maher said on July 11 that workmen are scheduled to pour the sidewalk section on Church Hill Road within 10 days. The project will then move to Main Street. All work is scheduled to be completed by August 20, he said.

The sidewalks are constructed with ready-mix concrete poured into molds which contain reinforcing wires. The borough recommends that road sand, not road salt, be used on the sidewalks for traction in the winter. Salt has a corrosive effect on concrete.

Newtown Bee Publisher R. Scudder Smith said, “Jay (Maher) has been very cooperative” in terms of addressing his concerns about sidewalk construction. “Main Street and the historic district should be consistent” in terms of the materials used in sidewalk construction, Mr Smith said. The Newtown Bee building at 5 Church Hill Road lies within the historic district.

Mrs Gaston said that a decade from now, people will be glad that sidewalks within the historic district have a consistent appearance.

The $165,000 sidewalk construction project is a joint town-borough effort, with the town assuming about $150,000 of the costs, and the borough covering about $15,000.

The use of Bomanite for certain sidewalk sections is expected to increase costs somewhat, Mr Maher said.