Rockville Town Council hears complaints about Voorhees Street, construction

While they ultimately decided not to act on concerns, the Rockville Town Council got quite an earful from a concerned citizen during this week's council meeting. 

Don Willhite approached council with concerns about Voorhees Street and construction, asking when improvements will be made to that area of town.

Councilman Steve Waltz told Willhite that there are no plans in the immediate future to do anything due to the costs associated with it. 

"This year or even next year because of the costs. The last thing that was done exhausted the stormwater's budgetary reserves was increasing the piping along Howard and Beadle to divert or allow water to be channeled that way down Howard Avenue instead of coming up underneath into the Vorhees basin off of Michigan Street. That project took all the operating funds that we had. Until we build up funds...," Waltz said before Willhite interjected with another comment.

Willhite said the last he heard last year was that the town was going to start construction on Vorhees Street. 

"The hope was to start this year," Waltz said.

Willhite countered by saying, "You didn't say you're hope. You said you were going to. The only hold up was you didn't have paperwork turned in for the grant."

Willhite asked council if nothing else could the road get new blacktop. 

"I'm just asking, if it's even a possibility. We have so many ruts, holes and issues. It looks like crap and is rougher than crap to drive on," Willhite said. 

Waltz reminded Willhite he is just one of five council members, but that he believed council would have to weigh the value of doing a temporary fix compared to a long term fix and it would be something that could be discussed when the council began looking at the 2026 budget.

"Personally, it is a priority, but we have to have the funds to do it. It will be another grant cycle, and we may be eligible for things there, but my suspicion is we would have to get one of the outside grants from the state to allow us to complete it, even as a temporary fix," Waltz said.

Council president Dave Brown said a Community Crossings grant could be an option, but reminded everyone the town would have to come up with matching funds. 

He said there are current plans for officials to complete work on Anderson Street, Stark Street, Walton Street and down Howard Avenue. 

"If we can get into the second round of Community Crossings and we have matching funds then we can see what we can do at that point. The only thing is if there's existing sidewalks and stormwater on community crossings, but there are special conditions for that. If we still can't get sewer and water taken care of through grants, it is going to be kind of rough," Brown said. 

After several more minutes of discussion, Waltz said again the concerns are "never low on anyone's priorities."

"It's high. Everyone knows it needs to be done, but there are other high priorities. There's the issue of stormwater drainage, the issue of the sewer and how do you muster the funds. We have been trying to get that done. We have tried several things that have not panned out. I want to set the record straight, there were never any plans to my knowledge for stormwater or bike lanes," Waltz said. 

That prompted more questions from Willhite and Waltz to again say the funds are not there at this time.

"The bottom line is there is no way right now. In 2024, we could not find a pathway to pay for getting Vorhees done or Jackson or Tullip, but we are still looking," Waltz said. 

Brown echoed those sentiments.

"It would be impossible for the town to take that project on without some kind of grants," Brown said. 

A resident, who lives on Jackson Street, told council the study and project goes back to at least 2016 and it has now been pushed down the road for several more years.

"That makes my ears perk up. It seems like a lot of other projects become priorities -- Anderson Street, Stark Street -- I get it, it's funding, but to Donnie's point, in two years, what will be the problems then? We have a lot of problems on that street, and I don't know if you can live with it for another three to four years," the resident said. 

Board member Parke Swaim said that council shares the same frustrations as the residents when it comes to the issues.

"We are looking at all options. It is very frustrating for us. We know you all have problems over there, we've known it for years. The sewer department needs to get in there and do its thing. The water department needs to get in there and do its thing, and it all takes money before it gets to the streets. It is just a frustrating project. We haven't forgotten about you," Swaim said.