Associated Student Government (ASG) voted unanimously Tuesday night to work with Oxford City Council to encourage property owners to repair off-campus sidewalks.
The bill states that cement blocks with cracks or edges that don't match up by 1/4 of an inch, cement blocks with holes more than an inch in diameter or any other type of general sidewalk deterioration will be corrected.
According to city of Oxford ordinance, the maintenance of curbs and sidewalks are the responsibility of property owners, or landlords since the majority of off-campus student housing is rentals.
Junior off-campus senator Olivia Dolan said ASG's bill includes every problematic sidewalk owned in Oxford.
"Right now it includes everything that's residential," she said. "It includes things that landlords have jurisdiction over, so basically that's all off-campus residents."
In 2006, Oxford City Council passed an ordinance that declared curbs and sidewalks in a state of emergency.
Dolan added that although sidewalk repairs have been steadily increasing recently, without proper attention, these sidewalks can cause injuries. Because of this, Dolan said it is landlords' responsibility to repair sidewalks around their residency.
"It should be enforced already," said Dolan.
Holly Morrical from Coldwell Banker College Real Estate said that each square block of cement costs around $1,000. She added that the company has always fixed damaged sidewalks near its property, yet quite a few still need repairing.
Morrical also said that she would not raise rent to account for the costs of repairing damaged sidewalks.
"I don't think I've ever raised rent," she said. "The only reason I'd think about raising rent is because the property tax went up."
A few off-campus students were not sure if their landlords would fix problematic sidewalks on their own.
"They didn't even plow our driveways," junior Sara Tuttle said.
Tuttle said that she does not think repairing the sidewalks is a major concern for her now because she has not had problems with them.
"I think the concrete is fine," said Tuttle.
Other students weren't even aware that landlords could be held responsible for repairing sidwalks.
"I would never think twice about asking the landlord about it," said sophomore Bryce Jones.
Dolan said ASG will present this bill to the Oxford City Council, while working on singling out sidewalk problem areas.
ASG also approved the The Walk-About Expansion Bill on Tuesday. The bill will require ASG members to go door-to-door three times a year in their representative districts to help assure student concerns are being heard by ASG.
The authors of this bill, off-campus senators Paul Struebing, Kelly Hewitt and Nathan Zwayer, said the bill just ensures ASG members are speaking and learning about their constituents needs.
"It's an opportunity to meet your constituents," Zwayer said. "If you vote against this bill, why are you here?"
ASG members debated whether or not walk abouts were the most effective way to reach out to students, since many Miami students are not always in their dorms or houses. A few members felt that this bill was not well-timed.
"I do like the idea of this walkabout. I think it's a little too much at the wrong time," off-campus senator William Schwartz said.
According to this bill, the walk about program is the most inexpensive and the most effective way of making personal contact. These walks would provide updates information about safety concerns, ASG activities, and move-out and break procedures.
Struebing said that many Miami students do not know what ASG is and that the walk about program would allow Miami students to learn more about what ASG does.
"ASG needs a face," Struebing said.
