Paying for sidewalks more than once

To the editor:

I am a former building inspector in Southeast and Southwest Missouri. This is what is going on in Southwest Missouri on sidewalks: Waste of money and materials and used in places they should not be used or just fill the landfills in the county.

The developer pays the contractor, then passes the bill onto the builder, who pays the contractor twice, then passes the bill onto the homeowner, who basically has paid for it three times by the time he buys the house.

This is what happens when sidewalks are put in before houses are built. The sidewalk is typically destroyed by construction trucks. The sidewalks have to be torn out anyway for the driveway. The old concrete is put into the garage fill or basement fill when no one is looking, or it is put on a empty lot. The builder will pay to have done all this done. Then builder will pay for the replacement of concrete for the drive where the sidewalk used to be and the replacement of the sidewalk. So he pays for it twice. But he passes this onto the homeowner, who pays for it tree times.

The sidewalk can be put in by the builder when the house is almost finished and ready for a final inspection.

ALLEN MORRIS, Springfield, Mo.