ELLSWORTH — The Ellsworth Village Board met for a special board meeting Friday, Aug. 14 to discuss miscommunication with engineers on the Morse Street design.

The blue building, which includes Maple Street Repair, Brush Strokes and Country Fit Nutrition, was originally planned to have two drive-over entrances with the rest of the stretch being curb. That was a change from previously being entirely sloped drive-over to the parking spaces.

When the village inspected the East End area construction, they saw drive-over curb work being done instead of what was designed.

“We were surprised to see that the curb in front of the blue shed… that whole length was drive-over curb,” Village President Becky Beissel said.

Beissel recalled a previous project approval that created plans to bring two accesses to the parking lot. The Friday meeting was called to figure out a design as well as determining responsibility for the change.

“[The Morse Street section of the project design] showed a regular curb and gutter, and a sidewalk,” Beissel said. “The special assessments for [the property owner’s] property reflected that there would not be full driveway access at his property because it wasn’t the full amount.”

When an easement was declined, Beissel said the village was informed by Cedar Corporation that it would not affect the landscape and tree plan, so that plan was approved. They then noticed that trees were removed from the plan that the village was not aware would be removed. The property owner of the pole shed also saw an increase in his special assessment without his knowledge.

“Clearly there was confusion, and we weren’t all on the same page,” Beissel said. “I would have expected them to catch that at the time considering that they saw this, they saw us discussing the trees.”

The board wrestled with ways to stick to the original plan while not disrupting the adjacent property. Beissel said the curb was designed because it protects pedestrians, as the village is trying to encourage foot traffic to the area. The property owner said pedestrians rarely walk by the building, so tearing up the work that is done would be unnecessary.

Trustee Ryan Bench said Cedar Corporation could have better explained the changes to the design before they were made.

“As village board members, we’re not engineers. We’re not paid to be engineers. We’re not elected to be engineers,” Bench said. “To expect a change to happen, go in, and then for us to be able to read it and understand what’s happening on that design is problematic for me.”

The board decided to approve a 10-foot curb with light and two vehicle entrances. Discussions for whether the village or Cedar Corporation is responsible for the cost will continue in the future.