Jackson, residents compromise on retaining-wall issue

The city of Jackson and residents of the Annwood Estates subdivision appear to have reached an agreement on what should be done about the retaining wall near the subdivision’s entrance that is in disrepair.

Engineer and surveyor Chris Koehler said the wall is in “terrible shape,” and the results of surveying had not revealed anything surprising enough to alter the original assessment of the land significantly.

In that case, city administrator Jim Roach said, the city staff’s recommendation will be to build a so-called middle-of-the-road option — a small wall with a short slope behind it to replace the existing retaining wall.

This disappointed some residents who were hoping for the construction of a new wall but assuaged fears the city would pursue a slope-only option that would have been the cheapest but also the most damaging to existing property.

Roach stipulated for that recommendation to be feasible, the property owners should provide the necessary easements without seeking monetary compensation.

Koehler said the tentatively agreed-to plan would require only 10 feet of easement from the right-of-way line.

Koehler said because the Rhodes family already has granted a permanent easement for the northernmost stretch of the property that currently is a vacant lot, the city will forgo wall construction there and slope that area only.

“I would recommend a permanent easement,” Koehler said. “For all intents and purposes, it’s going to be lawn, but in the case the city needs to repair something, [permanent easements] would make it easier for them to have the right to access the area.”

Several residents attended the meeting to voice their opinions of the idea, and all seemed amicable.

They focused more on urging the city to provide residents with ample notice before demolishing the existing wall, whether it be through mail or, as one woman suggested, spray-painting the demolition date on the wall itself for residents to see as they drive past.

tgraef@semissourian.com

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