Residents urge council to address alley maintenance and mailbox ADA access in Groves Park

Residents at the Oak Ridge special session raised persistent concerns about alley maintenance, potholes and access to cluster mailboxes used by the U.S. Postal Service.

Theresa Peter, who lives on Groves Park Boulevard East, described large potholes in alleyways that the city had repaired despite the city saying alleys are not public streets. "It's confusing to me that the garbage company can go up and down the alleyways and pick up the trash, and that the post office can go up and down the alleyways to get to the mail clusters," Peter said, asking why responsibility is split.

Ruth Richie described an ADA access problem: she must load her husband, who uses a wheelchair, into a van and drive two blocks to the postal cluster and then return home. "If the postal department is not gonna maintain it, the city's not gonna maintain it, can it be moved?" Richie asked, urging a remedy for residents with mobility needs.

City Attorney Recker clarified that, under the recorded 2009 maintenance agreement, the city has limited responsibility for maintenance within a 12-foot alley area and drainage features, but that alleys are not public streets and the city cannot treat them as accepted streets without appropriate legal steps. Recker said the city had performed limited pothole repairs under the agreement and that the larger road-acceptance action would not automatically change recorded private covenants without amendment.

Council members acknowledged the problem but differed on approach: some urged accepting the main streets now to meet seasonal paving windows and then addressing alley issues later pending budget review; others warned adding alleys to the current action could unbalance the negotiated solution and create precedent. The council did not adopt an amendment to include alleys in the current acceptance; members directed staff to consider options and return with details.

Next steps noted on the record: staff will advertise the paving contract for bid if the acceptance is finalized, and council asked staff to look into feasible solutions for mailbox placement and ADA access.