Kent Lawmakers Look to Officially Rename Causeway
Renaming a causeway is easier said than done, as became evident at Kent’s town board meeting last week.
During a ceremony prior to Thanksgiving ushering in a new and improved causeway on Nichols Street in town, the only aspect missing from the festivities was officially renaming that part of the road, “Veterans Memorial Causeway” because it lacked town board approval. At a town board meeting last Tuesday, lawmakers discussed what would be the best name for the causeway going forward, but not without some quarreling first.
Currently, the causeway is known as Little Fill’s.
Some town board members were upset that a road was being renamed before it went through the proper process and the board didn’t have a chance to officially approve it. That set up a spirited back-and-forth between Kent Highway Superintendent Rich Othmer and town board members.
Othmer apologized and took responsibility for the mix-up, noting as a former county legislator, he believes in going through the legislative process. Because the road leads to Veterans Memorial Park, he and other local veterans like resident Karl Rohde thought that name was appropriate.
“I thought it made common sense because it’s connected,” Othmer said.
Fleming said when Othmer mentioned Veterans Memorial Causeway to her prior to the ribbon cutting; she too was excited about the proposal.
But councilman Mike Tierney said he didn’t even know about the causeway ribbon cutting and possible renaming and slammed an email sent out to residents that claimed some town board members were resistant to the name change. Tierney, along with every board member voiced his or her support for a veteran themed name for the causeway.
Councilman Paul Denbaum said he was upset that it appeared the county was renaming the road without permission from the town board and nobody on the board knew about it. He also didn’t like that Councilman Bill Huestis and Othmer didn’t get credit from the county press release for the work they put into the causeway. Fleming acknowledged she was unaware that a press advisory from the county was even issued until after the fact.
After the flap over miscommunication between officials settled down, town board members looked into actually renaming the causeway. Huestis said he thought a veteran-themed name was a great idea and offered other possible names like Armed Forces Way, Heroes Way, GI Crossing, Military Service Crossing, and more. He even mentioned naming it after a certain person that either lived or still lives in the area.
He encouraged public input when deciding on a new name.
“Whoever comes up with a recommendation, I’d ask to step back and really look at this and we’ll vote,” Huestis said. “We’ll be supportive. I’m sure you’re going to get a 5-0 vote and that’s going to be remarkable on this town of Kent (board).”
Rohde, who is the Veterans Affair director for the county, encouraged the board to select a name that would include a wide net of veterans rather than just one specific person or group.
It appears that Veterans Memorial Causeway was the leading potential name-change and could be voted on as early as next meeting.
